BERLIN, Jan. 7--German first division football club VfL Bochum is in "steady contact" with Bayern Munich reserve striker Vahid Hashemian, in a bid to sign the Iranian international for next season, Bochum coach Peter Neururer told the online site of Der Spiegel magazine on Thursday.
"He (Hashemian) wants to prevail at Bayern. However if he does not succeed, it is quite possible he will return to us in summer," Neururer said, reported IRNA.
"He has always felt well in Bochum, we are in steady contact with him," the trainer added.
Hashemian whose current contract with Bayern runs until summer 2007, has been placed on the German record champ's selling list. The former Hamburger SV player has failed to make an impact with Bayern following his 2 million euro transfer from VfL Bochum last summer.
Hashemian has made clear he has no plans to leave Munich before the end of this season, saying he needed more time to adapt himself to the team's playing style.
The Bayern forward has also attracted interest from Hertha Berlin, Borussia Moenchengladbach and second division club FC Cologne.

Inter Milan's Marco Materazzi (l) celebrates with his teammate Matias Esteban Cambiasso after scoring against Livorno at their Italian Serie A clash in Livorno. (AFP Photo)

ROME, Jan. 7--Juventus saw their lead at the top of Serie A cut to two points after they were held 1-1 at Parma and closest rivals AC Milan thrashed Lecce 5-2 as the Italian league resumed after its winter break, AFP said.
An equalizer from Marco Marchionnni five minutes from time denied Juve victory after Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed home Mauro Camoranesi's cross in the 63rd minute to put the visitors ahead.
Marchionni picked up possession after an error by Juve defender Paolo Montero, and although his first shot was superbly saved by Gianluigi Buffon, the Parma substitute mercilessly smashed the rebound into the roof of the net.
Juve coach Fabio Capello refused to panic after his side blew the chance of beginning the new year on a winning note against a team seriously threatened by relegation.
"We are still first and very much alive," he said defiantly. "At 1-0 up we could have closed the game, but we weren't able to and much of that was down to (Parma keeper) Sebastien Frey.
"Then a bad bounce fooled Montero and that led to Parma's equalizer, which perhaps they didn't deserve."
Defending champions AC Milan took full advantage of Juve's surprise slip-up, thumping Lecce at the San Siro where Hernan Crespo netted a hat-trick for the home side.
European Footballer of the Year Andriy Shevchenko, who was presented with his award before the game, and Danish striker Jon Dahl Tomasson grabbed the title-holders' other goals while Valeri Bojinov and Marco Cassetti gave the scoreline some respectability for the visitors from Puglia.
The only black mark for AC Milan was the late sending-off of central defender Alessandro Nesta for a professional foul.

DAKAR, Senegal,
Jan. 7--Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel claimed his second successive stage victory to open a comfortable lead in the 2005 Dakar Rally Thursday, said AFP.
Peterhansel, winner in 2004, negotiated the 669-km seventh stage from Zouerat to Tichit in eight hours, 21 minutes, 57 seconds, 25 seconds ahead of Nasser At Attiyah in his BMW.
Former World Cup skier Luc Alphand, Peterhansel's Mitsubishi team mate, remains second overall, 21 minutes 32 seconds adrift after finishing the longest special stage in fourth place.
Kenjiro Shinozuka, winner of the Dakar Rally in 1997, was the highest-profile casualty of the day after he suffered a heavy crash 120-km into the stage in Mauritania.
Shinozuka and his co-driver Pascal Maimon were both taken to Tichit by helicopter where Maimon was treated for back and neck injuries.
Poor visibility hampered the bikes race with Frenchman David Fretigne taking the stage victory on his Yamaha in nine hours 16.26 minutes, 3-1/2 minutes ahead of Marc Coma, who moved top of the overall standings by a narrow 16 seconds.
France's Cyril Despres, who began the stage as overall leader, slipped back to second after finishing the stage in third place, five minutes adrift of Fretigne.

HONG KONG, Jan. 7--Venus Williams received a huge fright before edging out Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in her opening match of the Watsons Water Champions Challenge as she began a shaky start to her title defense.
According to AFP, the 24-year-old American needed to call upon all her talent, power and artistry before seeing off the world number 11 Zvonareva, who came within a whisker of scoring a famous victory.
Zvonareva led 5-3 in the third set and only had to hold serve in the 10th game to win the contest, but Williams dug deep into her resources to eventually seal victory in a 115 minute contest that was full of unforced errors.
"I think it was an up and down match as far as the amount of errors. When I was down I was making a lot more errors. She (Zvonareva) did play very well at the right time. She won five games in a row (in the third set). I was really trying to take control," said Williams, who takes on Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova Friday for the right to play in Saturday's final.
"It really did seem at that point that I started to regain my rhythm. It takes a bit of time sometimes to get your rhythm and groove."
Playing with her left thigh heavily bandaged, Williams started the match brilliantly, but suffered a lapse in concentration in the second set.
She faced a predicament trailing 0-4 in the third set before she finally got her game together to win the duel with Zvonareva double faulting on match point.
Asked whether her thigh was giving her problems, Williams said: "It's sore. It's not a bad injury really. Let's see how we do tomorrow. Matches are really intensive and they are much different from practice."

Gholamreza Takhti

SHAHR-E REY, Tehran, Jan. 7--A huge crowd gathered in Ibn Babouyeh Cemetery in the southernmost part of the capital city Tehran Thursday to pay tribute to former world freestyle wrestling champion and national hero Gholamreza Takhti on his 37th death anniversary.
The cause of the legendary wrestlerÕs death is yet unknown. Takhti, who is the role model for wrestlers and even all sportsmen in the country, won three golds and six silvers in the world, Olympic, and Asian events during his 15-year career.
He took his first silver in 1951 in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, adding an Olympic silver to it as he finished runner-up in 1952 Games in the same city. Takhti snatched the third silver in 1953 world meet in Warsaw, capital of Poland.
The freestyle wrestler won a priceless gold medal in 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and stood second in world competitions in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, in 1958.
In 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, Takhti grabbed the gold and celebrated the world title in his hometown, Tehran, in 1959. Takhti added a silver to his collection as he ranked second in 1960 Rome Olympics.
One gold and one silver he won in the world events in the Japanese capital Tokyo and Toledo in the US state of Ohio, in 1961 and 1962 turned him to a world wrestling celebrity.
Takhti is survived by his son, Babak, who was present and warmly greeted by people attending the ceremony.

MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 7--Omid Saeidi outpaced his rivals in the 10,000m marathon to bring Iran the first gold of the 20th Deaflympic Games here Thursday.
According to IRNA, Saeidi, who reached the finish line in 31:33.90 minutes, was followed by Vladislav Yakubovskiy and and Alexandre Sougoniaev, both from the Russian Federation, who clocked 31:39:28 and 31:42.06 respectively.
Meanwhile, Iran whitewashed Nippon in their opening volleyball match of the 20th Olympic Deaf Games here Thursday. The Iranian side thrashed the Japanese in three consecutive sets, winning 25-17, 26-14, 25-20.
Iran has been scheduled to face Finland Friday and Ukraine Saturday.
In other Thursday's matches, Turkey beat the Aussies 3-1, Ukraine overcame the Finnish team 3-1, and Russia routed Fiji 3-0. Italy was announced the winner as Ghana did not field its volleyballers.

South African bowler Nicky Boje (l) celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Geraint Jones (not in picture) for 38 at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. (AFP Photo)

CAPE TOWN,
South Africa, Jan. 7--South Africa completed a 196-run win over England on the fifth day of the third Test at Newlands to draw level in the five-match series, reported AFP.
Shaun Pollock took four for 65 and left-arm spinner Nicky Boje four for 71 as South Africa gained their first win Thursday in seven Tests. Their previous win was against New Zealand in Wellington last March.
Defeat ended a 13-match unbeaten streak by England going back to December 2003 when they were beaten by Sri Lanka in Colombo.
South African captain Graeme Smith said the win had given his team the confidence to believe they could go on to win the series.
"We realize one win doesn't make us world-beaters but it has given the players a lot of confidence," Smith said.
The batting of man of the match Jacques Kallis, who made 149 and 66, and the collective effort of the bowlers had been the key performances, Smith added.
"As far as I'm concerned Jacques is the best player in the world right now," said Smith. "Our bowlers have taken a lot of heat over the last few months but they bowled superbly here."
"It was a hard 2004 but we played superbly here for five days.
"We put the England batsmen under pressure for the whole Test match," said Smith. "We didn't let up. Our pressure and discipline helped knock them over."
England's top score was made by last man Steve Harmison, who hit a career-best 42 off 42 balls before being caught at gully off Makhaya Ntini.
England resumed the day at 151 for five Thursday and quickly lost Graham Thorpe, the last of their top order batsmen, for 26.

Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister celebrates after winning the women's World Cup skiing downhill at Santa Caterina. Dorfmeister finished ahead of American Lindsey Kildow and Germany's Hilde Gerg. (AFP Photo)

SANTA CATERINA, Italy, Jan. 7--Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister won a women's World Cup skiing downhill, ahead of American Lindsey Kildow and Hilde Gerg of Germany, according to AFP.
The 31-year-old Dorfmeister came home in 1min 41:66, 0.40sec ahead of Kildow and 0.53sec in front of Gerg.
The result means Kildow, 20, takes the lead in the World Cup downhill standings from the 29-year-old Gerg, with a five-point lead.
Slalom specialist Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who did not race the downhill, stays at the top of the overall World Cup rankings.