Els Celebrates His Birthday With a Win

Defending champion Ernie Els defeated Tim Clark on Friday to reach the semifinals of the World Match Play Championship at Virginia Water, England.

Els, who turned 34 Friday, won, 2 up, and will next face Vijay Singh. Els is trying to equal the record of five titles at this event by Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros.

In other quarterfinal matches, Singh beat PGA champion Shaun Micheel, 1 up, on the second playoff hole, the 38th; British Open champion Ben Curtis beat Chad Campbell, 5 and 3; and Thomas Bjorn defeated Masters champion Mike Weir, 5 and 4.

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Shigeki Maruyama made nine birdies en route to an eight-under 64 to move into the lead after two rounds of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro in North Carolina. Maruyama, who is at 15-under 129, has a five-stroke lead over Brad Faxon, who shot a second straight 67.

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Jim Thorpe shot a six-under-par 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Bruce Fleisher and Bob Gilder in the first round of the SBC Championship at San Antonio. Arnold Palmer shot a two-over 73, one stroke less than his age.

Tennis

Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Paradorn Srichaphan, 6-4, 6-2, to retain the No. 1 ranking and reach the semifinals of the Madrid Masters. If Ferrero had lost, No. 2 Andy Roddick would have replaced him atop the ATP Tour rankings.

In today’s semifinals, Ferrero will face Roger Federer, who defeated Feliciano Lopez, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4. In the other semifinal, Younes El Aynaoui plays Nicolas Massu. El Aynaoui defeated Sebastien Grosjean, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2, while Massu beat Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.

Top-ranked Kim Clijsters and No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne won in straight sets to reach the semifinals of the Swisscom Challenge at Zurich. Clijsters beat qualifier Tina Pisnik, 6-3, 6-2, while Henin-Hardenne needed five match points before defeating seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva, 6-4, 6-2.

Motor Racing

Jeff Gordon turned a fast lap of 93.650 mph in his Chevrolet, giving him the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Winston Cup Series Subway 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Ward Burton was second at 92.180 in his Dodge. Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified third at 93.015 in a Chevrolet.

Carl Edwards won the pole for today’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Advance Auto Parts 200 at Martinsville Speedway, becoming the first rookie to top qualifying in three years. Edwards turned a fast lap of 91.549 mph in a Ford. The last rookie to win a pole in the truck series was current Winston Cup driver Kurt Busch, who did it at California Speedway on Oct. 28, 2000.

Miscellany

The top-ranked USC women’s volleyball team defeated seventh-ranked Stanford, 30-17, 30-21, 30-23, in front of 3,549 at Maples Pavilion. The Trojans improved to 17-0 overall and 8-0 in the Pacific 10. Stanford is 14-4 and 7-2.

The USC men’s tennis team will play host to the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. Western Regional Championship Wednesday through Sunday at the Home Depot Center. Singles and doubles winners earn automatic berths in the 2003 National Indoor Collegiate Championships Nov. 6-9 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Midnight Madness always starts the college basketball season. This year it means new starts for several programs.

Practices can officially begin at 12:01 a.m. EDT today. The idea of starting at the first allowable minute belonged to Lefty Driesell, who did it at Maryland in 1970.

Among the coaches at new schools holding Midnight Madness festivities are Roy Williams at North Carolina, Bill Self at Kansas and Anthony Solomon at St. Bonaventure.

The Ice Dogs defeated Roanoke, 5-4, in their East Coast Hockey League opener.