Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — BOXING

Wach knocks out Fields

Mariusz Wach stopped Tye Fields in the sixth round and retained his WBC international heavyweight title in Atlantic City, N.J. Wach (27-0, 15 KOs) won by knockout on Saturday and was never seriously hurt by Fields. Wach unloaded a series of lefts and rights at the head and sent Fields into the ropes and face first onto the canvas. Fields (49-5) made it to his knees but could not get up at 1:44 of the round. Wach had hundreds of fans cheering him on at Resorts Hotel and Casino. Wach, out of Poland, now lives in New Jersey. After a methodical first four rounds, Fields took a beating in the fifth. Wach targeted Fields face for most of the fight, bloodied his nose and left him staggering in the fifth. The 6-7 Wach won his seventh consecutive bout by knockout or TKO.

BASKETBALL Rose sits out again for Bulls

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose missed his sixth consecutive game Saturday night because of an injury to his right groin and there is no timetable for his return. The Bulls, who had the NBA’s best record at 39-10 before Saturday, have done well without their point guard. Going into the game against Toronto, they were 11-4 without Rose this season. Rose also has missed games because of toe and back issues.

Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan was out of the starting lineup for Saturday night’s game with the Chicago Bulls because of a left ankle injury and fell one start short of tying the franchise record. DeRozan, who is averaging 16.5 points, had started 130 consecutive games but was injured in the fourthquarter of Friday night’s victory over the Knicks when he scored 30 points. The Raptors’ record for consecutive starts is 131 set by Alvin Williams.

Coach Paul Silas allowed his son, Stephen, to run the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night against the New Jersey Nets. Stephen Silas is his father’s top assistant. This will markthe fifth time he has coached the team this season. Twice he took over after his father was ejected, while he coached the team for games against the Nets on March 9 and Toronto on March 17. Paul Silas said his son is going to be a head coach in the NBA and this will be good experience for him, especially with the Bobcats (7-38) out of playoff contention.

HOCKEY Red Wings’ Lidstrom returns

Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom has returned to the lineup. Lidstrom started Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes after missing 11 games with a bone bruise on his right ankle. The four-time Stanley Cup champion and seventime Norris Trophy winner was injured Feb. 25 against Colorado. The setback might have hurt the Swede’s shot to match Bobby Orr’s record of eight Norris Trophies. Lidstrom is among NHL plus-minus leaders with a plus-25 rating through his first 62 games this season.

Montreal Canadiens great Jean Beliveau has been released from the hospital after suffering a stroke late last month. Spokesman Donald Beauchamp said Beliveau was released from Montreal General Hospital on Friday. The 80-yearold Hall of Famer was transferred to a rehabilitation center. Beliveau suffered the stroke on Feb. 27, his second in as many years.

SOCCER Canada shuts out U.S.

Doneil Henry and Lucas Cavallini each scored as Canada beat the United States 2-0 Saturday for its first victory over the Americans since 1992 in the CONCACAF men’s Olympic qualifying tournament in Nashville, Tenn. The Americans could have clinched a berth in the semifinals on March 31 in Kansas City, Kansas. Those winners qualify for the London games. Instead, they now must beat El Salvador, a 4-0 winner over Cuba earlier Saturday, to advance. Henry headed the ball from a corner in the 58th minute, and Cavallini scored off a diving header in the 83rd minute.

TENNIS Federer advances at Key Biscayne

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - On the verge of victory, Roger Federer stopped playing when he thought a pivotal point had ended. He mistook a fan’s shout for a linesman’s call, which cost him the game.

Play continued for another 25 minutes before Federer finally closed out his opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open by beating 19-year-old American RyanHarrison 6-2, 7-6 (3).

“I’d like to make it a bit more difficult for my opponent,” Federer said. “I was just completely confused about the whole situation.”

Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick won in more straightforward fashion, but two-timechampion Kim Clijsters was eliminated.

Federer led 5-2 in the second set and had a chance to finish in less than an hour until he lost two fluky points that extended the match. Serving at 5-3, Federer blew an easy overhead to fall behind 15-30. One point later, facing break point for the onlytime in the match, Federer hit a forehand that landed on the baseline.

A fan yelled “Out!” and Federer stopped. By the time he realized the ball was still in play, Harrison had won the point and the game.

“It completely threw me off,” Federer said. “It’s the first time it has ever happened in my career.”

Harrison took advantage of the break, although he said he felt bad about it.

“Obviously I want to win every point the right way, and not because something happened,” Harrison said. “Unfortunately somebody interrupted play.”

After Harrison heldtwice to force the tiebreaker, Federer hit a lunging lob to turn a scrambling exchange his way for a 4-2 lead. Four points later, he closed out his 40th victory in the past 42 matches.

“I felt like I had to win the match like three times at the end, so I was relieved to come through,” he said.