FanFare 9/16/02

Basketball

FBI agents met with prosecutors Sunday to discuss the investigation into the disappearance of former NBA player Bison Dele. Half a dozen FBI agents had already arrived in French Polynesia and more were expected Monday, officials at the gendarmes headquarters in Papeete said. The FBI issued an arrest warrant for Dele's brother on Friday, the day after Dele's sailboat was found docked on the east coast of Tahiti.

Boxing

Oscar De La Hoya settled a neighborhood feud and left no doubt who was the best 154-pounder in the world late Saturday night, stopping Fernando Vargas with a vicious assault in the 11th round of their grudge match. The end came after a fight of ebb and flow that saw both fighters take the advantage at various times before a roaring crowd of 11,425 at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.

Colleges

With a 25-23 victory over Michigan, Notre Dame's Fighting Irish (3-0) climbed eight spots to No. 12 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Irish, under new coach Tyrone Willingham, last cracked the AP's Top 10 at No. 10 in the 2000 final regular season poll. Then came the 41-9 Fiesta Bowl loss to Oregon State, and Notre Dame finished No. 15. The top six teams remained unchanged from last week with Miami still ranked No. 1.

Golf

Annika Sorenstam won her eighth LPGA Tour title of the year, closing with a 4-under 68 to hold off Kate Golden by a stroke in the Safeway Classic.

Dan Forsman eagled the 18th hole to win the Pennsylvania Classic for his first PGA Tour victory in a decade. A day after matching the Waynesborough Country Club record with a 7-under 64, the 44-year-old Forsman sank a 22-foot putt on the final hole to finish a bogey-free 65.

Bruce Fleisher held off Hale Irwin to snap a 38-tournament winless streak, shooting a 3-under 67 to win the RJR Championship with a tour-record 19-under 191 total.

Australia's Stephen Leaney won the German Masters for his fourth European tour victory, closing with a 5-under 67 for a one-stroke victory over Germany's Alex Cejka.

Motorsports

Rookie Ryan Newman raced to his first Winston Cup victory, holding off Kurt Busch in the rain-shortened New Hampshire 300. The win in the race shortened to 207 laps followed consecutive second-place finishes for the 24-year-old Purdue University graduate with a degree in engineering. Newman has eight top-five finishes in his last 10 starts, and a series-leading 13 in 27 races. He had five second-place finishes before breaking through in his 35th career start. Sterling Marlin finished 21st and lost the points lead for the first time since the second race of the season. Mark Martin took it away with a finish of 16th, and leads Marlin by six points.

Sam Hornish Jr. won another incredible race at Texas Motor Speedway, and his second straight IRL title. Hornish went side-by-side with Helio Castroneves for many of the last 25 laps in the season-ending Chevy 500, crossing the finish line 0.0096 seconds -- only a few inches -- ahead of the only other driver in contention for the season championship.

Rubens Barrichello led Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher across the finish line in the Italian Grand Prix, setting off a celebration by the home fans.

Tennis

Anna Kournikova is still seeking her first WTA singles title after Anna Smashnova dashed Kournikova's hopes with a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the final of the Shanghai Open. Kournikova was slowed by unforced errors, repeatedly hitting balls too long from the baseline and missing key shots at the net.

Gustavo Kuerten won his first title of the year, fighting hard in scorching sunshine to beat Argentina's Guillermo Coria 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (2) in the final of the Brazil Open.

-- From wire reports