Sports in brief

Times wires
Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Swimming

Phelps wins 200 fly for 1st world gold

SHANGHAI — Michael Phelps took another small step toward next year's Olympics, and this time it was a winning one.

After losses in his first two events at the world championships, Phelps won the 200-meter butterfly for a record fifth time Wednesday. His time of 1 minute, 53.34 seconds was well off the world mark he set two years ago in Rome (1:51.1), but these days he incrementally measures his progress.

"It was 1½ seconds faster than last year," he said.

Italy's Federica Pellegrini won the 200 freestyle to become the first woman to sweep the 200 and 400 at consecutive worlds. China's Sun Yang won the men's 800 freestyle. Zhang Lin didn't defend his title because Chinese team officials said he was out of shape.

Basketball

Report: NBA resumes labor talks Monday

NBA owners and players will resume talks toward a new collective bargaining agreement Monday, a month after the lockout started, the Associated Press reported.

This will be the first meeting to include commissioner David Stern, union executive director Billy Hunter, owners and players, the AP said.

The sides were far apart on numerous economic issues when owners voted to lock out the players when the old collective bargaining agreement expired June 30.

Rose sentenced: Former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Jalen Rose was sentenced to 20 days in jail for a March drunken-driving crash near Detroit. "I'm humbled, I'm embarrassed, and I'm very apologetic. I can assure everyone that nothing like this will ever happen again," said Rose, who pleaded guilty in May to driving while intoxicated.

High school: The man who posed as a teenager to play in West Texas was sentenced to three years in prison after reaching a plea deal. Guerdwich Montimere, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and three counts of tampering with government records. When Montimere was 21, the naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti came to Odessa, Texas, saying he was 15-year-old Jerry Joseph and played one season at Odessa Permian. He helped lead the Panthers to the state playoffs. Suspicions were raised after coaches at a tournament said they recognized Joseph as Montimere, a 2007 graduate of Fort Lauderdale Dillard.

ET CETERA

Autos: NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne will take his longtime crew chief with him to Hendrick Motorsports next season. Team owner Rick Hendrick said Kenny Francis will be the crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Kahne is slated to drive starting with the 2012 season. Kahne and Francis have been together since the final race of 2005.

Football: The United Football League is considering contraction as it struggles to survive for the 2011 season, Hartford coach Jerry Glanville said. "I know that they have four plans out there, and that is one of the plans," he said.

Soccer: Wayne Rooney set up two goals as Manchester United put on another show during its tour of the United States with a 4-0 victory over the MLS All-Stars in Harrison, N.J. The reigning English Premier League champion has outscored its opponents 18-2 to win the opening four games on its U.S. tour, which ends Saturday against Barcelona in Washington. … World and European champion Spain remained at No. 1 in the monthly men's world rankings, and the United States dropped six places to No. 30. The Netherlands and Germany rounded out the top three. The standings will help decide seedings in Saturday's World Cup qualifying draw.

Tennis: Teenager Ryan Harrison beat fellow American Michael Russell 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles. … Defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Croatia Open in Umag.

Times wires

Source: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/sports-in-brief/1182846

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