Bailey Escapes Injury When Car Hits Pole

Donovan Bailey, the world record holder in the 100-meter dash, escaped injury Sunday when his out-of-control luxury car hit a concrete pole, flipped and caught fire in Mississauga, Canada, police said.

Officers said Bailey was driving alone when the single-car accident happened west of Toronto. A passing driver picked up Bailey and drove him home to nearby Oakville.

“He’s a very fortunate man,” said Sgt. Mike Grodzinski of the Peel Regional Police. “The impact was on the passenger side, not the driver’s side.”

Bailey was charged with careless driving and failing to remain at the scene of an accident. He is due in court Nov. 28.

Bailey, 29, won the 100-meter title at the 1996 Atlanta Games, shattering the world-record mark in 9.84 seconds. The Canadian also won a gold medal with the 4x100 relay team.

Soccer

South Korea qualified for its fourth World Cup in a row and fifth overall, clinching a berth in the France ’98 tournament when Japan and the United Arab Emirates played a 1-1 tie in Tokyo.

Wagnar Lopes, a Brazilian-born forward who obtained Japanese citizenship only last month, scored in the fourth minute for Japan. Ismail Rashed tied the score in the 37th with a header off Munther Ali’s free kick.

Japan and the UAE remain in a tight race for second place in the Asian qualifying Group B and a playoff place. Iran and Saudi Arabia are battling for the Group A lead.

Tennis

Petr Korda returned to the Top 10 for the first time in more than four years when he defeated Richard Krajicek in straight sets at Stuttgart, Germany to win the Eurocard Open.

Korda, whose career has been plagued by injuries, won, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, 6-4, over the 1996 Wimbledon champion to post his first victory on the tour since January 1996.

The victory, the eighth of his career, was worth $350,000 and vaulted Korda nine places in the rankings, to No. 8.

“That’s what I was working for, that’s what I was living for,” the 29-year-old Czech said of the Top 10, where he was ranked before injuries took their toll.

“What I do in tennis in the future is just a bonus,” Korda said.

In 1992, after reaching the French Open final, Korda was ranked No. 5 in the world. The last time he was in the Top 10 was in August 1993, when he was No. 9.

Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of The Netherlands defeated Dominique Van Roost of Belgium, 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 7-5, in the Challenge Bell tournament final at Quebec, Canada.

This was the third meeting between the two players and the third victory for Schultz-McCarthy, including the Challenge Bell final two years ago.

Winter Sports

World champion Michael Von Gruenigen of Switzerland picked up where he left off last season, winning the opening men’s giant slalom of the World Cup season at Tignes, France by rallying in the second heat.

Von Gruenigen had an impressive 1996-97 season in the giant slalom--four victories, a second, a third and a sixth--in addition to the world championship.

It was the 12th World Cup victory for Von Gruenigen, all in giant slaloms. He was timed in 2 minutes 24.29 seconds for the two runs.

Second was Steve Locher, of Switzerland, in 2:24.86, with Hermann Maier of Austria third in 2:25.26.

Two-time Olympian Robert Pipkins raced to the head of the field in the second of three men’s qualification events for spots on the U.S. World Cup luge team.

The team that will represent the United States in the Olympic Winter Games in February at Nagano, Japan will be drawn from the World Cup squad.

By winning a race-off at Park City, Utah, in which the five competitors were separated by a mere .12 of a second, Pipkins improved to first in the overall standings.

Three lugers will be named after the final race-off in Calgary Oct. 31. They will join Wendel Suckow of Marquette, Mich., and Duncan Kennedy of Lake Placid, N.Y., on the U.S. men’s World Cup team.

Pipkins’ overall point total of 165 puts him five points ahead of Adam Heidt of Lake Placid.

Miscellany

The New York Mets are planning to tear down Shea Stadium and replace it with a 40,000-seat version of Ebbets Field with modern touches such as a retractable roof, the New York Post reported. Met President Fred Wilpon is slated to unveil the details in a few months, the newspaper reported. It is estimated the new stadium will cost $450 million to build by April 2001.

The stadium--to be constructed 100 feet away from the current 33-year-old ballpark along 126th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens--would feature several aspects of Ebbets Field, down to the red-brick wall.

Met general counsel David Howard said the Mets are forging ahead with their plans “regardless of what the Yankees do with their stadium.”

New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner has said parking, access and crime make Yankee Stadium an unacceptable home after its lease runs out in 2002.

The Big Ten and CBS Sports agreed to a multiyear contract extension that will have the network broadcasting games involving conference basketball teams through 2006. Financial details were not released.

Katrina McClain had 24 points and 11 rebounds and U.S. Olympic teammate Teresa Edwards added 22 points as the Atlanta Glory defeated the New England Blizzard, 77-68, in an American Basketball League game in front of 8,035 at Hartford, Conn. . . . In other ABL games, Natalie Williams had 24 points and 13 rebounds as the Portland Power beat the Philadelphia Rage, 74-67, before 2,390 in Philadelphia, and Shannon Johnson scored 19 points and Sonja Tate had 12 points and 13 rebounds as the Columbus Quest beat the San Jose Lasers, 76-72, in overtime in front of 3,531 in San Jose.

Carlos Palomino, 48, stopped Erick Vasquez at 2:39 of the ninth round, knocking him down twice in the final round of a welterweight fight before fewer than 100 spectators at Bakersfield.