Kwan Passes on Event in China

Michelle Kwan, off the ice for two weeks because of a strained ligament in her right hip, was cleared to return to the ice but won’t be ready to compete in the Cup of China Grand Prix event early next month, U.S. Figure Skating said Wednesday.

The nine-time U.S. champion and five-time world champion withdrew from the Beijing competition, losing the chance to gauge her progress under the sport’s new scoring system as the Turin Olympics approach. She previously withdrew from her other Grand Prix assignment, Skate America, as well as from the Campbell’s Classic.

The 25-year-old Manhattan Beach resident has competed only once under the new system, which will be in effect at Turin in February. She got her only experience with the system, in which skaters accumulate points based on fixed values for jumps and spins, earlier this year in Moscow when she finished fourth at the World Championships.

Skaters routinely seek comments from judges to learn how to improve their programs. That has been especially important recently, as skaters, coaches and choreographers familiarize themselves with the new rules and learn what judges are looking for.

“There has been significant improvement in Michelle’s condition over the past two weeks and she is ready to start back with limited on-ice activities,” orthopedic surgeon Leisure Yu of Loma Linda said in a statement.

The next major event in which Kwan is scheduled to compete is the U.S. Championships at St. Louis in January, which will determine the U.S. Olympic team.

-- Helene Elliott

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Tonya Harding tussled in her home with a man she described as her boyfriend, prompting an emergency call by the figure skater-turned boxer and an arrest of the man in Vancouver, Wash.

Christopher Nolan, 27, was charged with assault and pleaded not guilty Monday. He told deputies Harding threw him down and bit his finger when he said she’d had too much to drink Sunday.

Nolan, who said he and Harding were roommates, was ordered to stay away from Harding and to avoid alcohol. Harding, 34, had a small cut over her right eye and an abrasion on her left cheek.

Initially, Harding called 911 and said she’d been attacked by two masked men. Harding was banned for life from competitive figure skating after her former husband hired a man to club rival Nancy Kerrigan with a baton as Kerrigan left the ice during practice in the 1994 U.S. championships at Detroit.

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BASEBALL

Maddon Interviews With Devil Rays

Angel bench coach Joe Maddon interviewed in Houston for the Tampa Bay managerial job and came away from a meeting with Devil Ray executives believing he is a good fit for the position previously held by Lou Piniella.

Maddon, 51, who has been with the Angels for 31 years, the last 12 on the major league staff, met with Matt Silverman, Tampa Bay president, and Andrew Friedman, the team’s director of baseball development.

Before the interview, Maddon said he received a 47-page e-mail from the team outlining new managing general partner Stuart Sternberg’s plans to revitalize the franchise.

Of the eight finalists for the Devil Ray job, four come from within the organization: bench coach John McLaren, third base coach Tom Foley, first base coach Billy Hatcher and triple-A manager Bill Evers.

Former Detroit manager Alan Trammell and Atlanta hitting coach Terry Pendleton have also interviewed for the job, and the Devil Rays expect to interview former New York Met and Texas Ranger manager Bobby Valentine, whose Chiba Lotte Marines are playing in the Japan Series.

-- Mike DiGiovanna

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New York Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman has been offered a three-year contract worth more than $5 million, and the team hopes he will decide in the next few days to stay.

Venezuelan reliever Ugueth Urbina of the Philadelphia Phillies denied allegations by employees at his ranch in Ocumare del Tuy, south of Caracas, that he assaulted them.

The workers said Urbina and his associates attacked them with machetes, poured gasoline and paint thinner on them and burned them after a party when a gun was discovered missing, according to local media reports. It is unclear if a gun was involved in the incident.

Urbina has not been charged by police. Prosecutors said they wanted to hear his version of what happened.

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TENNIS

Roddick Wins First Lyon Grand Prix Match

Top-seeded Andy Roddick defeated wild-card entry Thierry Ascione, 7-5, 6-3, in the first round of the Lyon Grand Prix in France.

Second-seeded Mariano Puerta lost to Olivier Rochus, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo defeated Nicolas Lapentti, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4; and sixth-seeded David Ferrer lost to qualifier Marc Gicquel, 6-4, 6-0.

Third-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero needed only 69 minutes to defeat Filippo Volandri, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round of the Swiss Indoors at Basel.

Qualifier Kristof Vliegen defeated Stanislas Wawrinka, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3, dealing a blow to tournament organizers, who said they were counting on the Swiss player’s local drawing power after top-ranked Roger Federer withdrew because of a torn ligament in his right foot.

Another Swiss player, 35-year-old Marc Rosset, retired after he and Wawrinka lost in doubles to Tomas Berdych and Jiri Novak, 6-3, 6-3.

Eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic wasted two set points in the first set but defeated Shinobu Asagoe, 7-6 (4), 6-2, in the first round of the Generali Ladies’ Open at Linz, Austria. Gisela Dulko defeated Lisa Raymond, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-2.

Second-seeded Nathalie Dechy defeated Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round of the Gaz de France Stars at Hasselt, Belgium.

Silvia Farina Elia, 33, the highest-ranked Italian female player in history, retired after losing to Kirsten Flipkens, 6-3, 6-2. She was ranked as high as 11th three years ago.

Countrywide Financial Corp. has agreed to be title sponsor of the men’s tournament at UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center, which next year will be played July 24-30.

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SOCCER

Two Wizards Among MLS Award Recipients

Jimmy Conrad of the Kansas City Wizards was selected defender of the year in Major League Soccer and teammate Chris Klein was selected comeback player of the year.

Real Salt Lake midfielder Brian Kamler was recognized as the U.S. Soccer Foundation humanitarian of the year and Brian Hall was selected referee of the year. Conrad led a Kansas City defense that gave up 44 goals in 32 regular-season games.

Klein returned from a knee injury in 2004 and finished with a career-high nine assists and tied his career best with seven goals. He won the same award in 2002 after tearing ligaments in his right knee the previous season

Germany Coach Juergen Klinsmann says he won’t be moving out of Huntington Beach, despite criticism from Bundesliga coaches.

Klinsmann and the league coaches held a discussion at Frankfurt, with Klinsmann making no concession on his California residence less than eight months before the World Cup.

Klinsmann, who called the meeting “lively,” said he would spend time in Germany when necessary. Bundesliga coaches had stepped up criticism of Klinsmann’s methods after Germany’s lackluster performances in recent games.

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MISCELLANY

Hurricane Forces Schedule Changes

Hurricane Wilma damaged the membrane covering the top of the Florida Panthers’ arena, prompting the NHL to postpone another game because of the storm.

The game scheduled for Saturday between the Washington Capitals and the Panthers has been postponed indefinitely. Florida’s game against Ottawa last Saturday was moved to Dec. 5 because of the hurricane.

The kickoff for the college football game between North Carolina and Miami at the Orange Bowl was changed to noon because the stadium’s lighting system was damaged during the hurricane, the Atlantic Coast Conference said.

The game had been scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. and would have ended in darkness..

Homestead-Miami Speedway suffered wind damage but no structural damage to the racing surface, and track President Curtis Gray said the Ford 400, NASCAR’s season-ending race in the Nextel Cup series, would go on as scheduled Nov. 20.

Russ Granik will leave his job as NBA deputy commissioner after this season to become a senior adviser to Commissioner David Stern.

Granik will remain the league’s main representative to USA Basketball, board chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame and an aide to the commissioner. Granik is in his 30th year with the NBA, and was second in command for the last 22.

Michelle Wie has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Sony Open at Hawaii in January, the first full-field PGA Tour event of the year.

Men’s basketball Coach Tim Floyd said USC was close to signing a deal with Oklahoma State to be the Trojans’ first opponent in the Galen Center during its inaugural season in 2006-07. The Trojans are also in discussions with Georgetown and Georgia Tech about coming to Southern California next year.

Promoter Dan Goossen of Sherman Oaks and trainer Joe Goossen of Van Nuys will be the first brothers to be inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame at ceremonies Nov. 17 in the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City. Promoter Ken Thompson of the Inland Empire, and referees Lou Filippo and Marty Denkin also will be inducted.