Kafelnikov, Rafter Receive Fast Trip Home From Dubai

Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Patrick Rafter were upset by unseeded players Wednesday in the second round of $1-million Dubai Open in the United Arab Emirates.

Thomas Johansson of Sweden defeated the third-seeded Kafelnikov, 7-6, 7-5, and Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine downed the fifth-seeded Rafter, 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-1.

Johansson, who beat the Russian for the sixth time in a row, next meets Max Mirnyi of Belarus. Mirnyi defeated compatriot Vladimir Voltchkov, 6-1, 6-4.

Medvedev will meet top-seeded Marat Safin of Russia in today’s quarterfinal. Medvedev has beaten Safin the last two times they met.

Second-seeded Magnus Norman of Sweden rallied from a set down to defeat Andre Pavel of Romania, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) to advance against seventh-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain--a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic.

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Persistent rain postponed several matches at the State Farm Women’s Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz. Matches involving No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, No. 2 Monica Seles and No. 7 Lisa Raymond were rained out. No. 9 Elena Likhovtseva and qualifier Tina Pisnik were tied, 6-6, in the first set when the rain set in. . . . Top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil cruised to a first-round victory over Felix Mantilla of Spain, 6-4, 6-1, in the Mexican Open at Mexico City.

Winter Sports

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway used strong skiing to offset two poor shots and beat Germany’s Sven Fischer in a World Cup biathlon at Midway, Utah, on the course for next year’s Winter Olympics.

Bjoerndalen’s time was 49 minutes, 1.4 seconds on the 20-kilometer Soldier Hollow course.

Four more Finnish cross-country skiers have failed drug tests, with the team’s coach, Kari-Pekka Kyro, accepting responsibility for the scandal that has engulfed the sport.

The latest disclosures by ski officials brings to six the number of skiers to test positive. All of them competed at the recent Nordic world championships in Lahti.

U.S. freestyle ski team aerialist Brenda Petzold will be out the rest of season after breaking her right collarbone in a training accident at Park City, Utah.

Miscellany

A last-minute call from the mayor’s office gave Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium a reprieve from the wrecking ball that had begun demolishing the one-time home of the Colts, Orioles and Ravens. Neighbors called Mayor Martin O’Malley after crews knocked a giant hole through the outfield bleachers shortly after 9 a.m., prompting him to order the Maryland Stadium Authority to stop the work.

“It’s an eminently reusable building,” said Jamie Hunt of Preservation Maryland. “Our hope is we can sit down at the table with them again and lay out all the options and save the stadium.”

Yugoslav high jumper Dragutin Topic, who was fourth at the 1999 world championships in Spain, failed a drug test and could face a two-year ban.

Michigan receiver Davis Terrell, a projected first-round pick in the NFL draft, has a stress fracture in his right foot. Doctors at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis detected the injury last weekend. But his agent contends the stress fracture had been diagnosed in August and has not affected his client.

Mike Sorber, who played 67 games for the U.S. national soccer team and more than 100 in five seasons in Major League Soccer, retired to take a coaching position with his alma mater, Saint Louis University, the Chicago Fire said.

The preliminary hearing for Avenger quarterback Todd Marinovich scheduled for Wednesday in Los Angeles was delayed until March 22. Marinovich, charged with one felony count of heroin possession and two misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, is having the case sent to drug eligibility court to determine whether he qualifies for a court-approved intervention program.

The USC football team is expected to remain on campus for summer training camp rather than go to UC Irvine, as it has in recent years. New Coach Pete Carroll favors staying at home to avoid the complication of moving truckloads of equipment.

Mark Stitt scored with less than three minutes to play to give the San Diego Gulls a 4-3 victory over the Ice Dogs in a West Coast Hockey League game at the Long Beach Arena.