No. 236 Campbell Defeats Courier

Qualifier Steve Campbell, ranked 236th in the world, bounced back from a bad first set Tuesday and stunned third-seeded and formerly top-ranked Jim Courier, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round of the AT&T; Tennis Challenge on clay at Duluth, Ga.

Campbell lost the first five games before finally settling down.

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Top-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa reached the second round of the Croatian Ladies Open, defeating Melanie Schnell of Austria, 6-1, 6-2. . . . Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia won a singles match for the first time this year, defeating Lionel Roux of France, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, in the opening round of the Czech Open in Prague. . . . Seventh-seeded Marc Rosset of Switzerland took advantage of a two-hour rain delay in the second set to collect himself and beat David Prinosil of Germany, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the BMW Open in Munich, Germany. . . . Sixth-seeded Mary Pierce easily beat Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, 6-1, 6-1, in the first round of the Rexona Open in Hamburg, Germany. . . . UCLA has been seeded first in the NCAA men’s championships, being played May 17-25 in Westwood. The Bruin women have been seeded fourth in the women’s tournament at Stanford, May 19-23.

Golf

Fuzzy Zoeller disputed accounts of his exchange with a black golfer Monday about fried chicken and watermelon, but the four reporters on the scene defended the accuracy of their stories.

Zoeller said businessman Vic McBryde, a friend, had yelled, “Hey Fuzzy, we’re having lunch later--fried chicken, collard greens and cornbread. You want to join us?”

“I yelled back, ‘Don’t forget the watermelon.’ That’s all I said,” Zoeller said Tuesday.

Reporters there said Zoeller initiated the “fried chicken” conversation. He had apologized a week ago for a similar statement about Tiger Woods after the Masters.

Basketball

Philip Von Backstrom, a 7-foot-2 center who played last season at Southern Nebraska Community College, signed a letter of intent to play at USC.

Backstrom, whose 7-2 twin brother George committed to Oregon State, is from South Africa.

USC also signed 6-7 1/2 Adam Spanich of Marshalltown Community College in Iowa.

Providence point guard God Shammgod said he will forgo his final two collegiate seasons to make himself eligible for the NBA draft.

Soccer

Cobi Jones will miss the Galaxy’s games Friday at Washington and Sunday at New York-New Jersey because of a hamstring pull, and midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos will miss them because he will play for El Salvador in a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica.

D.C. United midfielder Marco Etcheverry of Bolivia was fined $1,000 and San Jose Clash defender Michael Emenalo was fined $500 by Major League Soccer for actions in a match between the two teams.

Hockey

St. Louis center Craig MacTavish, the last player to go without a helmet, announced his retirement at 38. . . . Sean Goldsworthy, the son of the late NHL all-star Bill Goldsworthy, was hired as coach at Minnesota’s St. Olaf College.

Jurisprudence

Richard Perry, a convicted sports fixer whose relationship with Nevada Las Vegas basketball players led to Jerry Tarkanian’s eventual resignation as coach, has pleaded guilty to tax evasion for 1989 through ’91. Perry, who was photographed in a hot tub with Rebel players, will serve 15 months in prison, according to federal officials.

Names in the News

Nancy Darsch, fired last month as coach of Ohio State’s women’s basketball team, was hired as coach of the New York Liberty of the fledgling WNBA. . . . Chinese women swimmers Yu Ran, Pu Shi and Chen Jialin, and male swimmer Lu Qiang, have been banned from competition for two years after failing drug tests in January, 1996.