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Show THE DAILY HERALD, (www.HarkTheHerald.com), Page B4 Provo, Utah, Saturday. April 1, 2000 Gimpy Agassi falls Mmmm Mi France NICE, Michelle to Kuerten "Congratulationsr Kwan said. (AP) Kwan may have returned her focus to figure skating a little too late for a world title this year. As graceful as ever, Kwan still hobbled on a triple flip during the short program Friday at the World Figure Skating championships and finished third free skate. going into Skating with porcelain calm, Russian Maria Butyrskaya won the short with an elegant program that emphasized her maturity, beating younger the-fina- The U.S. champion appeared tense going on to the ice but seemed to relax after hitting a fine double axel and a triple toe combination. The program, to an orchestral of the Version hit "A Day in the Life," flowed into her graceful spirals, which she held for nearly the length of the rink, then let go a bit with, a hip swivel when the pace picked up. Kwan's only real problem was the landing on the triple flip, which was added to the program to increase the difficulty. Her technical marks were mostly a.6s and 5.7s with one lutz-doubl- e KEY BLSCAYNK, Fla. (AP) (Mi l 6-- -- :. -- ... Kwan-Slutskay- a less-difficu- t x in if GARY I. KOTHSTKIN the quarterfinals. 'This isn't, about making Done for. DUSAN VRAN1C The Associated Press Smooth: Russia's Maria Butyrskaya performs her short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France, Friday. "When there's a long season, it's important to know" when you get your best form," said Butyrskaya's ' coach, Yelena "Maria Tchaikovskaya. comto this came Butyrskaya form." best her in petition Slutskaya, 21, lacked only the polished gestures that dis- tinguished Butyrskaya, win- rosy-cheeke- d e late-bloeme- r, title with an intense and intricately, choreographed free program to the gothic chants of "Carmiiia Burana" that earned four 6.0s for presice dance entation. Italians Barbara Fusar-Pol- i and Maurizio Margaglio, who had led beginning the free dance, skated a ' get' the silver. dance-- to and Drobiazko Margarita Povilas Vanagas of Lithuania Celtic-inspire- d . bumped ; Russians Irina Lobach e va and I Ha Avebu kh the first from the podium time since 1968 a Soviet or Russian couple had not won a dance medal. Americans Naomi Lang and were Peter Tchernyshev eighth, and former junior Jamie world champions Silyerstein and Justin Pekarek finished 12th - . 6-- 1994. 3-- n ERICSSON OPEN 6-- 1 Agassi requested an injury timeout after the first set and had his ankle taped. He played better after that but still had : the women's, final Saturday, Lindsay Davenport will try to beat Martina Hingis for the sixth' time in a row. Davenport is already assured of reclaiming the No. 1 ranking from Hingis next week. Agassi said his ankle should be fine in a few days, and he expects to play in next weekend's Davis Cup match against the' Czech Republic. But against Kuerten, Agassi said, the ankle hurt more than he expected. "Pushing off was a big problem," he said. "It was getting worse quickly. Then I started really worrying about damage. I knew the only chance I had was to tape it up, but it wasn't In good." I's leaves the court after losing to Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in the semifinals of the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., Friday. "I'm the one who struggled in my last match." Kuerten's, upset prevented an Agassi-PetSampras in Sunday's final. seeded second, Sampras, and beat No. 14 16 aces slugged in Lleyton Hewitt the other semifinal. Sampras advanced to his first final this year. He's bidding for his third title at Key Biscayne and his first since show-dow- he Associated the day: Andre Agassi ; trouble moving, especially to ' his right. his footwork with Struggling on Kuerten's tricky second : a u .1. serve, Agassi never nauj a urea point. "Gustavo came in today and played solid," Agassi said. "1 had no ability to do anything . ' about it." Kuerten, the 1997 French Open champion, needs one 1 -- 1 . 1 TI lllL) iXiOl. 111 llltlUliVUl title and his first title in the United States. He's the No. 6 seed but came to Key Biscayne on hardcourts this year, just 3 and was one point from losing his opening match to Arnaud Clement. i u c; men Liie uidiiuau onicc nicknamed "Guga" has won 10 consecutive sets. Injury bug bites Devil Rays FRANCISCO (AP) Willie Mays turned, he couldn't escape himself. It was, ne aumuieu, Kinu oi lrigni-eninSAN e TAMPA BAY (AP) It looks like the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will have to wait to see, the results of a busy offseason of Tffif moves. The Devil Rays placed ace Wilson Alvarez on the disabled list Fridayl with shoulder tendinitis, and new third baseman Vinny Castilla is also expected to start the season on the DL with a strained abdominal mus- H g. The address of the San Francisco Giants' new ballpark is jpmed after its greatest plaWillie Mays Plaza. The signature entrance is known as Willie Mays Gate. And on a palm concourse just outside the main entrance is the centertall statue of Mays piece, a unveiled Friday in a public. tribute to the Hall of Famer that drew 5,000 people. "I'd like to say I feel like the luckiest man in the world for having so many friends," said Mays, who later Friday threw out the first pitch at the inaugural game at Pacific Bell Park, an exhibition between the Giants and Milwaukee Brewers. I he tributes to the Mjiys, regarded as one of the best players in Dase-bahistory ranged from Mayor Willie Brown's proclamation of yer! d cle. Tl' "It's frustrating," Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said. 'There's nothing I can do." The injury list keeps growing, as Esteban Yan left Friday's game against Detroit in St. Fla., after two Petersburg, innings with a right foreman bruise. He was hit by a liner off the bat of .Detroit's Juan Encarnacion. "It's muscle, so there's no bone involved," Rothschild said. "It got a little puffed up after getting hit. He should be OK, but, We'll 'TP . jv - 1. ! V see.' . SPRING TRAINING sore shoulder, might be replaced by Dave Eiland as the Devil Rays' home opener starter on April 7 against Cleveland. A final decision won't be made until after Guzman pitches Saturday's exhibition finale against Detroit. "You just have to adjust," Rothschild said. "We just have to get by the injuries right now and the first week of the season is the time to do it." The Devil Rays lost to the Tigers Friday. Brian , 5-- 2 r start the Detroit's Comerica at game Moehler, who will first-eve- Park on April 11, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings. Juan Gonzalez returned to Detroit's lineup as' the desig- nated hitter after missing Thursday's game with a sore hamstring and went Juan Guzman, bothered by a Herbert Perry hit his eighth homer of the spring for Tampa Bay At Winter Haven Fla., Richie Sexson bruised his right knee in a collision with the wall and Minnesota banged around starter Charles Nagy before " Cleveland rallied to win ToddWalker homered leading off the game and" Butch ifuekey, who had five RBIs, had a double in the first on the shot that sent Sexson into the left-fiel- d 10-8.- " two-ru- wall. n . The Sexson, primarily a first baseman and DH during his career, laid motionless for a few moments on the warning track before walking off the fiejd on his own. were nega- ' 'That kind of popped a little tive. scare into us," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. Sexson was scared, too. "I'm fine. My kneecap just kind of slid out a little bit," Sexson said. "It was painful, like running into concrete." ll d "Say Hey Kid Day," to remem- brances former , from Black Barons Birmingham teammate, Rev. Bill Greason, to the signs in the crowd reading simply "Thanks hand-crafte- rrTtSt e Mays tribute leads off new park opening tree-line- T -- excuse's," a glum Agassi said. ning mostly 5.8s for presentation. After failing to place at ice. an she beat Though ailing' Russian nationals last year and from Kwan. at last year's worlds to dropping completely Russian take the title, Butyrskaya has sight, the often been overlooked going beat Kwan at the Grand Prix into major competitions;, partly final this year and' is savoring because of her age and partly her return to international because he tends to save her competition. "I think I skated well. I did best skating for. the end of the Russian all my elements cleanly withseason. The champion is somewhat of a out mistakes," Slutskaya said. France's Marina Anissina winning her first major title only in 1998 at and Gwendal Peizerat ended lock on the Milan. Russia's eight-yea- r six-tim- 6-.- 4 Agassi said the injury was partly his fault because of the from physical , demands 2 needed he when Wednesday 12 hours to beat Tim Henman 5.4.".', T had a little bobble after the triple flip," Kwan saTd. "But I'm glad I went for it.: ... I felt really good out there, but I let loose and had a lot of fun.'" Old in skaters' years at 27, Butyrskaya diverted all attention from the much ballyhooed rivalry with a romantic skated program softly to Sarah" Brightman's "Scene d'amour." With all the elements performed perfectly, the judges didn't seem bothered that her optional jump was the triple loop to the triple flip jumped by SlutsTcaya and Kwan. It was only after-thaofficials revealed she had light- ly cut two right fingers cleaning her blade before going on the n nals... , and Kwan,- - even 'though boh had slightly more difficult jumps in the technically dominant short program. The United States had three women place in the top seven. Sarah Hughes of Great Neck, N.Y, at 14 the youngest competitor, finished fifth, placing fourth overall going into the free skate. Angela final Nikodiriov of SanPedro, Calif., placed sixth in the short, and is seventh overall. rvyan s cnances ai winning her third world title were marginal,, depending on both in Russians' bombing Saturday's free program. In her, freshman year at UCLA, Kwan scaled back on training in the transitional fall quarter, but shifted the balance back toward skating in the winter,, moving out of the dorm and taking ', fewer classes. ; "This year has been completely different for. me," Kwan said. "It's been a lot of fun. The first quarter at school was ' hard. I had a full load and competitions coming up. I didn't skate as much as I wanted." She shook Slutskaya's hand with obvious admiration after the Russian told reporters she had been attending college for five years and would take, her final exams next year.' F" 1 . Lennon-McCartne- y jnvajs RussianTrina Slutskaya Everj-wher- Andre Agassi walked quickly to his changeover chair, picked up his racket bag. brushed past autograph seekers at the railing and disappeared through an exit. It was the best he had moved all day. Hampered by a mild sprain-ihis right ankle, Agassi limped out the Ericsson Open loss to Brazil's with a Gustavo Kuerten in the semifi- semis in d No. 24." "I'm just happy they decided to do this while you're living. I wouldn't wanted to have come out here and said, As I knew him ... Greason said. Also on hand for the statue unveiling were Commissio'ner Bud Selig, who flew back frorp series in Japan between the Mets and baseball's season-openin- g Bill Cosby, Cubs, former two of Mays' managers, actor-comedia- n Herman Franks and Charlie Fox. former Giants great Bobby Thomson, and the 2000 edition of the Giants, including .Mays' godson, slugger Barry Bonds In his tribute, Bonds called the new stadium The house they built for WjllieJi. ERIC RISBKRG Ilic Associated Press That's me: San Francisco Giants Hall of Famer Willie Mays tips his cap during the dedication of a statue in his honor at, Willie Mays Plaza outside Pacific Bell Park Friday. "I never saw a more natural ballplayer in my life," added an emotional Franks. "No one had tohelp Willie." But Franks said it was Mwfe' human "touch that made him special, remembering that Mays out of the blue bought a car in 1973 for Franks' mother, who is now 104 years old. "She still has it," Franks said. It was Bonds aod second baseman Jeff Kent who pulled back the curtain 'to unveil the statue, which was cast in bronze and mounted atop a white granite pedestal. Carolina North sculptor William Behrends called it a r labor of love for everyone involyed. The statue depicts Mays, "who hit 660 homers, finishing a powerful swing, his eyes cast upward following the path two-yea- of the vanishing ball. "I don't like to look at it too long, because it's scary," Mays said. "I think when I come to the ballpark, I'm going to go in the back way. It's just too real. When you look at it and you're still alive, that's scary." Mays, who, played for the Giants at the Polo Grounds while the team was in New York and then in the cold, windy stadium on Candlestick Point, praised the new waterfront ballpark as a state of the art base- ball shrine. "I'd like to be: playing here today. I think I could hit 10-2more home runs," he said. "But 0 everybody's talking about the 0ayside) view. Who cares about the view? This is not a condo here. It's a ballpark. Ieta play . t NJ ends slide, beats Thrashers By Sabres, who had a winning streak come to an end. four-gam- The Associated Press NHL EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Scott Gomez had a goal and two assists as the New Jersey Devils ended a losing streak with a victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Friday night. The win boosted the in slumping Devils back their last 21 games into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference with 99 points. The Thrashers, who have lost five in a row, are winless in their last seven and have just one victory in their last 18 games. Martin Brodeiir finished with 22 sayps for his sixth shutout ofxhe year and 42nd of his career. RESULTS, B6 HURRICANES 3 SABRES 1 two-gam- e 6-- 0 BUFFALO, N.Y. - Paul Coffey's power-pla- y goal with 7:34 left lifted Carolina to the win and into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Sean Hill sealed the win, scoring into an open net with 4.9 seconds remaining. Paul Ranheim also scored for the , Hurricanes, who jumped ahead of the Sabres in the standings and caught the idle Montreal Canadiens in the race for the conference's final playoff berth. , Vaclavarada. scored for the ( e PANTHERS 3 SENATORS 1 Mike SUNRISE, Fla. Vernon stopped 32 shots and won his fifth consecutive start as Florida handed Ottawa its fifth loss in eight games. The Panthers, winners of five of (their last seven, are three points ahead of Ottawa for the fifth plavoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Vernon was the difference in Florida's first win in four tries against Ottawa this season. He stopped 1 1 shots in the first period, 10 in the second and 11 in the third, including several from ranme. point-blan- k . " |