TENNIS
Monfils advances
Top-seeded Gael Monfils won the last eight games in beating Austrian qualifier Bastian Trinker 6-3, 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the Croatia Open on Thursday. Monfils, who made the semifinals on his last appearance here in 2013, will face sixth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who won the last four games to defeat Paolo Lorenzi of Italy 6-2, 7-5 Second-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain also eased into the last eight by defeating Blaz Kavcic from Slovenia 6-1, 6-2. Bautista Agut will face Borna Coric of Croatia, who made the quarters for the second year in a row, defeating Aljaz Bedene of Britain 6-4, 6-4.
• Benoit Paire of France ousted top-seeded David Goffin of Belgium 6-2, 6-3 at the Swedish Open on Thursday to reach his first quarterfinals in 15 months. Paire improved to 2-0 against Goffin, who lost his serve five times. Next up for Paire will be Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, who saved all five break points he faced against 2010 Bastad champion Nicolas Almagro of Spain in a 6-3, 6-3, victory. Former two-time champion Tommy Robredo of Spain defeated compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-4, to reach his 10th quarterfinals at Bastad, and faces French qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu, who beat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-3. Defending champ Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, with 10 aces and eight double faults, beat Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-0, saving eight of 10 break points.
HORSE RACING
Pharoah faster?
Triple Crown winner American Pharoah breezed 6 furlongs for jockey Martin Garcia in a snappy one minute, 11 seconds Thursday morning at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, Calif., five days after he went the same distance there in 1:11.40. "I think he's getting faster," trainer Bob Baffert said. "He's giving me goose bumps." Baffert said owner Ahmed Zayat's colt will work "an easy half-mile" at Del Mar on Tuesday, the day before he will be flown to New Jersey to race in the Haskell Invitational on Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park.
• Three jockeys are accused in a race-fixing scheme that involved holding back a horse picked as a favorite to win and using an agent to place bets on the race at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., state police said Thursday. The investigation began after the state Racing Commission received a complaint about a June 19 race at the track in southwest Louisiana, according to a news release. State police said the jockeys were each charged with "willful pulling of the reins and cheating and swindling." Arrested were Joseph Patin Jr., 46, and Billy Patin, 51, both of Opelousas, and LeSean Conyers, 24, of Lafayette. In addition, the Patins face charges involving different races. They are accused of possessing electronic shocking devices -- allegedly during races on July 4 -- that are sometimes illegally used to try to speed horses up. The three have been released on bond from the St. Landry Parish jail. There was no answer at the phone number of an attorney listed as representing the Patins. Information on whether Conyers had an attorney was not available.
BASKETBALL
Owners OK move
The WNBA owners have unanimously approved the Tulsa Shock moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area next season. The Shock (10-8) will finish out the current year in Tulsa. They will play next year at the University of Texas at Arlington, subject to approval by the Texas system's Board of Regents. This was the first season that Tulsa had success on the court winning eight of their first nine games before star guard Skylar Diggins was lost for the season with an ACL injury. The Shock have lost seven of nine since. Majority owner Bill Cameron announced his plans to move the team to the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Monday. The Shock moved from Detroit in 2010.
• The Dallas Mavericks have signed free-agent rookie forward Maurice Ndour. The 6-foot-9 Ndour, a native of Senegal, averaged 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in five games for the New York Knicks' summer league team this month. Ndour averaged 16 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game as a senior last season at Ohio University. He spent two seasons with the Bobcats after two years at Monroe College, a junior college in New York. He played high school basketball in Japan. Dallas announced the deal Thursday.
• The Cavaliers have traded second-round pick Rakeem Christmas to the Indiana Pacers for a second-round selection in 2019. The Cavs selected Christmas, who averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebound as a senior at Syracuse, with the No. 36 overall pick last month. He appeared in four summer league games for the Cavs in Las Vegas, averaging 8.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 20.9 minutes. Pacers President Larry Bird said the team liked the 6-foot-9 Christmas when he worked out for them before the draft. Christmas was thought to have a shot at making Cleveland's roster for next season, but Cavs General Manager David Griffin decided instead to acquire a future asset for him. The Pacers had acquired the second-round pick in their trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for center Roy Hibbert.
• The Sacramento Kings have signed veteran forward Caron Butler. The Kings announced Butler's signing Thursday. The deal is for two years and $3 million, with a player option in the second season. Butler averaged 5.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 20.8 minutes with Detroit last season. Butler, 35, has averaged 14.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in his 13-year career with Miami, the Los Angeles Lakers, Washington, Dallas, the Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City and Detroit. The Heat drafted Butler 10th overall out of Connecticut in 2002.
GOLF
China tour event off
The Reignwood Pine Valley LPGA Classic will not be played this year, leaving China with one tour event this season. The LPGA Tour said Thursday that the decision to call off the Beijing event scheduled for Oct. 1-4 doesn't impact the long-term future of the tournament. The tour said an extension is now being finalized to play the event in 2016 and 2017. The Blue Bay LPGA in Hainan on Oct. 29-Nov. 1 will be the tour's lone Chinese event this year.
HOCKEY
Coyotes, city reach deal
The Arizona Coyotes reached an agreement with the city of Glendale that will cut taxpayer subsidies for the National Hockey League team and allow it to keep playing in Gila River Arena. Glendale's city council is scheduled to vote on the agreement today, the city and team said in press releases posted on their websites Thursday. The deal promises to end a legal dispute between the Coyotes and the Phoenix suburb, which tried to terminate its contract with the team ahead of next season. According to city documents, the management fee paid to the team under the new agreement will be cut to $6.5 million a year from $15 million. The Coyotes sued the city in June after the council voted to cancel the team's lease over a purported conflict of interest during contract negotiations. A judge issued a temporary restraining order last month, which temporarily let the team continue playing in the arena.
SOCCER
Refs upset Panama team
The Panamanian Football Federation has demanded the removal of CONCACAF's referee selection panel after describing the officiating in the Gold Cup semifinal loss to Mexico as "insulting and embarrassing." The FPF, in a statement on Thursday, also accused the match officials of favoring Mexico "in a vulgar and shameless way." In the bad-temepered semi Wednesday in Atlanta, Panama forward Luis Tejada was red-carded in the 24th minute, but the team led 1-0 until stoppage time when Roman Torres was penalized for hand-ball. Mexico converted that penalty and another in extra time to win 2-1. After the match, the Panamanian players posed for a photo under a banner calling CONCACAF corrupt thieves. The charges come as CONCACAF is reeling from the indictment of two former presidents as part of the FIFA corruption scandal.
Sports on 07/24/2015