Four Boxing Judges Suspended

Four of the five judges who worked a disputed match in the World Amateur Boxing Championships at Houston were suspended Friday by the executive committee of AIBA, the international amateur boxing federation.

AIBA General Secretary Loring Baker said he was outraged at the diversity of scoring by the judges and vowed a complete investigation into the scoring system of amateur boxing.

“You hear the word ‘corruption’ . . . creeping in and this is a policy that it’s time to get tough with officials,” Baker said.

Judges awarded welterweight Timour Gaidalov of Russia the gold medal Thursday night by a 5-3 margin over Juan Hernandez of Cuba, setting off an angry protest and demonstration by the Cubans.

Cuban heavyweight champion Felix Savon later refused to enter the ring for his fight and the title was awarded to Michael Bennett of Chicago.

After reviewing the Cuban protest, AIBA reversed the decision and awarded the gold medal to Hernandez.

Light-heavyweight Michael Simms Jr. and featherweight Ricardo Juarez, a hometown favorite, won gold medals Friday to give the United States an unprecedented four golds. The United States won three gold medals in each of the 1982 and 1986 World Championships.

Tennis

Second-seeded Venus Williams had little trouble defeating third-seeded Monica Seles, 6-1, 6-3, setting up a showdown with Lindsay Davenport in the final of the Pilot Pen tournament at New Haven, Conn.

Davenport won 11 consecutive games, rallying from a set down and advancing with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Ruxandra Dragomir, who had played a long set in the morning to finish her quarterfinal against Sandrine Testud.

Unseeded Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands defeated second-seeded Marcelo Rios, 7-5, 6-0, in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Pro Championships at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline, Mass.

Schalken wasn’t the only unseeded player with a quarterfinal upset. Arnaud Clement of France defeated fifth-seeded Sebastian Grosjean of France, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Magnus Norman of Sweden continued his best season on the ATP Tour, upsetting top-seeded and third-ranked Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Hamlet Cup at Commack, N.Y. Second-seeded Alex Corretja of Spain needed 2 hours 36 minutes to defeat Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, 7-6 (10-8), 2-6, 7-6 (7-1).

Motor Racing

Tony Stewart added another entry to his growing list of accomplishments as a Winston Cup rookie by turning a fast lap of 124.589 mph in his Pontiac to win the pole for the Goody’s 500 NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

It was the second pole for Stewart, and it came five days after he finished third at the Pepsi 400, his best finish of the year.

Boris Said, a victim of mechanical failure while battling for the lead at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan., a year ago, gets another chance today after setting a qualifying record to earn the pole position for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series’ final road race of the season.

Darlington Raceway President Jim Hunter said he has received approval from International Speedway Corp. to install lights at the South Carolina track.

Jurisprudence

Former New York Islander owner John Spano will be sentenced Oct. 15 on federal bank and wire fraud charges stemming from his aborted purchase of the NHL franchise, Spano’s attorney said.

Spano faces a possible prison term of more than seven years for his part in the saga that thrust the team’s ownership into turmoil.

Miscellany

Phenix City, Ala., rode Bryan Woodall’s hard-biting curveball to a 3-2 comeback victory over defending champion Toms River, N.J.. in the U.S. championship game of the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa.

Phenix City will play Osaka, Japan, today in the title game.

Toms River was leading, 2-0 in the second inning, Thursday night when rain forced suspension of play.

When play resumed, William Gaston III homered during Phenix City’s three-run second inning.

Woodall had eight strikeouts in five innings of relief.

Toms River failed to join Long Beach and Monterrey, Mexico, as the only teams to successfully defend their titles.

Raul Diaz Arce scored his 11th goal of the season as the Tampa Bay Mutiny defeated the Columbus Crew, 2-1, in a Major League Soccer game before 14,188 in Tampa, Fla. Ritchie Kotschau also scored for the Mutiny.

The Mighty Ducks agreed with defenseman Pavel Trnka on a new three-year contract, trimming their list of unsigned restricted free agents to one--defenseman Ruslan Salei. Trnka, 23, had four assists in 63 games in 1998-99, his second full season with the Ducks. Salei had two goals and 16 points in 74 games. Training camp opens Sept. 5.