Sport briefs

Referee attacked in Cup match * SOUSSE – South African referee David Bennett was attacked after Royal Armed Forces of Morocco were denied a stoppage time goal in the African Confederation Cup second leg against Etoile Sahel of Tunisia on Saturday.

Etoile Sahel, runners-up in the African Champions League in 2004 and 2005, won on away goals after drawing the first leg 1-1 in Rabat last month. Bennett and his linesman Toko Malebo were attacked by the furious visitors after a close-in effort from Brahim El Bahri was disallowed for offside.Several Royal Armed Forces players rushed at Malebo as he flagged the goal offside, pushing and shoving him before security officials came to his rescue.Nalbandian beats Davydenko * MOSCOW – David Nalbandian overpowered Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 6-2 4-6 6-4 in the first reverse singles yesterday to pull Argentina level 2-2 in their Davis Cup final against Russia, setting the stage for a decisive fifth rubber.The Argentine number one, who crushed former world number one Marat Safin in straight sets on Friday, broke Davydenko twice to take the first set, then repeated the feat in the second, breaking the world number three in the fourth and eighth games to build up a two-set lead.Chen sets three world records * DOHA – China’s Olympic champion Chen Yanqing set three world records on the way to winning gold in the women’s lightweight weightlifting at the Asian Games yesterday.The 58-kg ball of muscle, one of the best pound-for-pound weightlifters in the world, took the snatch record from compatriot Wang Li with a lift of 111 kg, before her clean and jerk of 140 kg gave her a competition total of 251.Furyk wins by two at Sun City * SUN CITY – Jim Furyk, the defending champion, capped the most consistent year of his career with a two-stroke victory in the Sun City Challenge yesterday.Furyk began the final round three strokes clear of Irishman Padraig Harrington, but no one made a run at the Anerican even though he shot a two-over-par 74 to finish on 12-under-par 276.Harrington made 75 to end up third on eight-under-par as Sweden’s Henrik Stenson overtook him with a 69 to finish second on 10-under-par.South African Ernie Els, a three-time champion at Sun City, finished fourth on seven-under-par after an even-par 72.Furyk finished second on the US PGA Tour moneylist and Sunday’s cheque of $1.2 million pushes him to winnings of over $8.5 million worldwide in 2006.Nampa-Reuters and AFPBennett and his linesman Toko Malebo were attacked by the furious visitors after a close-in effort from Brahim El Bahri was disallowed for offside.Several Royal Armed Forces players rushed at Malebo as he flagged the goal offside, pushing and shoving him before security officials came to his rescue.Nalbandian beats Davydenko * MOSCOW – David Nalbandian overpowered Nikolay Davydenko 6-2 6-2 4-6 6-4 in the first reverse singles yesterday to pull Argentina level 2-2 in their Davis Cup final against Russia, setting the stage for a decisive fifth rubber.The Argentine number one, who crushed former world number one Marat Safin in straight sets on Friday, broke Davydenko twice to take the first set, then repeated the feat in the second, breaking the world number three in the fourth and eighth games to build up a two-set lead.Chen sets three world records * DOHA – China’s Olympic champion Chen Yanqing set three world records on the way to winning gold in the women’s lightweight weightlifting at the Asian Games yesterday.The 58-kg ball of muscle, one of the best pound-for-pound weightlifters in the world, took the snatch record from compatriot Wang Li with a lift of 111 kg, before her clean and jerk of 140 kg gave her a competition total of 251.Furyk wins by two at Sun City * SUN CITY – Jim Furyk, the defending champion, capped the most consistent year of his career with a two-stroke victory in the Sun City Challenge yesterday.Furyk began the final round three strokes clear of Irishman Padraig Harrington, but no one made a run at the Anerican even though he shot a two-over-par 74 to finish on 12-under-par 276.Harrington made 75 to end up third on eight-under-par as Sweden’s Henrik Stenson overtook him with a 69 to finish second on 10-under-par.South African Ernie Els, a three-time champion at Sun City, finished fourth on seven-under-par after an even-par 72.Furyk finished second on the US PGA Tour moneylist and Sunday’s cheque of $1.2 million pushes him to winnings of over $8.5 million worldwide in 2006.Nampa-Reuters and AFP