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SPORTS BRIEFS

Monday, May 12, 2008 - 12:07 AM

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AUTO RACING

Indy qualifying rained out

INDIANAPOLIS - Next weekend's busy schedule just got tougher for some Indianapolis 500 teams.

The second day of qualifying at the 2.5-mile oval was rained out yesterday, marking the third time in the opening week that drivers lost a full day of track activity. And it might not get any better.

More rain is expected for Wednesday's practice, and the long-range forecast is calling for a chance of more rain late in the week. But track officials still are hoping to fill the remaining 22 spots in the 33-car field Saturday.

If it does remain dry, Sunday still would be the traditional "bump day," when nonqualified drivers can make the starting grid by knocking out the slowest qualifiers.

The original schedule called for 11 spots to be filled each of the first three days of qualifying. The opening day of time trials Saturday was dry and successful. Then the rain returned.

"I think it's a shame because it certainly alters everyone's plans for the week," Indy Racing League President Brian Barnhart said. "It's been a bit of a challenge losing Wednesday, Thursday, a half day Friday, and now Sunday."

Massa, Ferrari continue to roll

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Felipe Massa held off Lewis Hamilton to win his third consecutive Turkish Grand Prix and earn Ferrari's fourth consecutive Formula One victory.

Massa finished 3.779 seconds ahead of Hamilton, a McLaren driver, on the 58 laps at Istanbul Speed Park to continue a trend of winning from the pole position in Turkey. All four winners at the circuit have come from the pole.

Defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen finished 4.2 seconds back in third place as Hamilton denied Ferrari a third successive sweep of the top two positions. Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber was fourth, ahead of teammate Nick Heidfeld.

Raikkonen leads the standings with 35 points, seven ahead of Hamilton and Massa. Kubica is next with 24. Ferrari opened up a 19-point lead over BMW Sauber in the constructors' standings.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Report: Mayo accepted cash, gifts

LOS ANGELES - A former associate of USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo claims the basketball star received thousands of dollars in cash and other gifts from an event promoter the past four years that would violate NCAA rules, ESPN reported.

Louis Johnson told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that Rodney Guillory, a Los Angeles-based event promoter, gave Mayo about $30,000 and other benefits while he attended high school and his sole season at USC. Mayo has decided to forgo his sophomore year and enter the NBA draft.

"I will not allow these allegations to become a distraction to me and my family," Mayo said in a statement to ESPN. "I have not engaged in any wrongdoing."

TENNIS

Djokovic rallies to win clay event

ROME - Novak Djokovic won the 10th title of his career, rallying to beat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Rome Masters.

This tournament was an important warmup for the French Open, which begins in two weeks.

The third-ranked Djokovic won the Australian Open in January for his first Grand Slam tournament title, then captured the Masters Series event in Indian Wells, Calif., in March.

Djokovic's third victory of 2008 will move him within 310 points of second-ranked Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings. In other tennis news:

Dina Safina pulled off her third upset of a top-10 player in a week at the German Open in Berlin, winning the title by defeating ninth-ranked Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. The 17th-ranked Safina also beat No.1 Justine Henin and No.8 Serena Williams at the clay-court event.

Ivan Ljubicic was two points from losing the match when he rallied to beat Steve Darcis 6-7 (7-6), 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) in a rare Sunday start for the clay-court Hamburg Masters. In other first-round matches, Ivo Karlovic edged Mischa Zverev 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3), and Gilles Simon defeated Xavier Malisse 6-4, 7-5. Two-time Grand Slam tournament winner Marat Safin qualified for the main draw when he beat Evgeny Korolev 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Two-time champion Amelie Mauresmo withdrew from the Italian Open in Rome because of a rib injury.

Elsewhere

Manchester United won its 10th Premier League soccer title in 16 years, getting a penalty kick from Cristiano Ronaldo and another goal from Ryan Giggs to beat Wigan 2-0 on the final day of the season. United finished the 38-game season with 87 points, two points more than Chelsea, which was held to a 1-1 tie by Bolton. If Chelsea had won, United still would have won the league title on goal difference.

Riccardo Ricco won the second stage of the Giro d'Italia in a sprint finish, and Franco Pellizotti took the overall lead in the three-week race.

Around the state

Robert Bradshaw of Suffolk and Roger W. Newsom of Virginia Beach fired the best round of the tournament, a 7-under-par 65, for a two-shot victory in the 43rd Virginia State Golf Association Four-Ball Championship at Cedar Point Country Club in Suffolk. Bradshaw-Newsom played a pivotal six-hole stretch on the back nine in 6 under par for two-day total of 12-under 132.

Starting from the outside of Row 1, Rusty Wood took the lead on the opening lap and never looked back en route to his first victory of the season in the 50-lap Modified race, the featured event Saturday night at Langley Speedway in Hampton.