It’s another downhill win for Miller

Bode Miller skied a near-flawless run Saturday at Kvitfjell, Norway, to win a World Cup downhill by 0.40 of a second over Didier Cuche of Switzerland.

Miller went down the Olympic course in 1 minute 46.16 seconds for his third downhill victory of the season. It also was his 31st World Cup victory, an American record. Cuche was timed in 1:46.56. Werner Heel of Italy finished third in 1:46.91.

Miller, of Bretton Woods, N.H., became only the fourth American winner at Kvitfjell since Tommy Moe won gold at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics.

Miller, who had the fastest split times on the 1.9 miles course, increased his lead in the overall standings over Cuche to 165 points. He has 1,283 with seven races left.

Denise Karbon of Italy won the World Cup giant slalom title without strapping on her skis. The race at Zwiesel, Germany, was canceled because of rain and strong winds.

Karbon leads Elisabeth Goergl of Austria by 181 points with one race remaining, giving Italy its first women’s giant slalom title since Deborah Compagnoni won in 1997.

TENNIS

Davenport records 55th singles title

Fourth-seeded Lindsay Davenport won her 55th career singles title and fourth since giving birth to her son last summer, defeating fifth-seeded Olga Govortsova, 6-2, 6-1, in the Cellular South Cup at Memphis, Tenn..

In the men’s draw, eight-seeded Robin Soderling advanced to the final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships by beating fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek, 7-6 (2), 6-3. He will play Steve Darcis, who beat Jonas Bjorkman, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Sergiy Stakhovsky won the Zagreb Indoors in Croatia, defeating top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic, 7-5, 6-4 and becoming the first “lucky loser” to win an ATP tournament in 17 years.

A lucky loser enters the main draw from the qualifying field at the last minute because a player is unable to compete.

Eighth-seeded Elena Dementieva won the Dubai Championships in the United Arab Emirates by defeating second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in an all-Russian final.

GOLF

Ochoa extends lead to eight at Singapore

Lorena Ochoa had five birdies en route to a three-under-par 69 to extend her lead after the third round of the HSBC Women’s Champions at Singapore.

Ochoa is at 16-under 200 and leads Paula Creamer and Annika Sorenstam by eight strokes. Creamer shot a two-under 70. Sorenstam, who shot 70, made five birdies but had a bogey and a double bogey.

Luke Donald shot a four-under 66, Mark Calcavecchia had a 67, and they wound up tied with Matt Jones (71) atop the leaderboard after the third round of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. They are at six-under 204, one shot better than Brian Davis (73) and Jose Coceres (68).

SOCCER

Manchester United gets closer to Arsenal

Manchester United moved to within a point of Arsenal at the top of the English Premier League after the Gunners tied visiting Aston Villa, 1-1.

Arsenal, which has 65 points, trailed after defender Philippe Senderos scored a 27th-minute own-goal, but Nicklas Bendtner tied it in the final minute.

Defending champion United, which had trailed by five points eight days ago, closed the gap with a 3-0 victory at Fulham.

MISCELLANY

Hamm, Liukin win American Cup titles

Paul Hamm and Nastia Liukin won gymnastics’ American Cup at Madison Square Garden. Hamm’s score of 94.41 points was more than three points better than that of Sasha Artemev. Liukin had 63.425 points, a full point ahead of reigning world champion Shawn Johnson.

The San Francisco 49ers signed free-agent defensive end Justin Smith. Smith, the No. 4 overall pick by Cincinnati in 2001, had 43 1/2 sacks in seven seasons with the Bengals. His deal is reportedly for six years and is worth $45 million. . . . Free-agent defensive end Chris Clemons signed a five-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. He had eight sacks in a reserve role with Oakland last season. . . . The Cleveland Browns added another wide receiver for newly re-signed quarterback Derek Anderson, agreeing to terms with Donte’ Stallworth on a seven-year contract.

The California State Athletic Commission will change its steroid testing lab for boxers and mixed-martial arts athletes from a private Atlanta facility to the World Anti-Doping Agency center at UCLA, Armando Garcia, the commission’s executive director, said.