TEHRAN, April 10--Iran is on top of the standings in the first Islamic States’ Solidarity Games inaugurated in Saudi Arabia Friday, IRNA reported.
Two golds in karate helped Iran outdo Egypt with an asset of one gold, two silvers, and three bronzes and Kazakhstan with one gold, one silver, and three bronzes.
Saudi Arabia is fourth with one gold.
Mohsen Ashrafi snatched Iran’s first gold in individual kata Saturday and his teammates, Malek Mehrabi, Afshin Hemmati-Moqaddam, and Mostafa Pour-Jalali, added another gold in team kata.
The Islamic Games started in the holy city of Mecca Friday in an Olympics-style tournament aimed at showing Muslim athletic prowess, with over 6,000 sportsmen from 55 countries.
Four Saudi cities; Mecca, Medina, Jeddah and Taif are hosting competitors, bringing together members of sports unions affiliated to the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Prince Abdel Majid Bin Abdel Aziz, the prince of Mecca, opened the Games Friday in a ceremony attended by more than 2,600 students at the King Abdul Aziz Stadium in Mecca.

Chelsea forward Joe Cole runs with the ball during the English Premier League match against Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge in West London, Saturday. (AFP Photo)

LONDON, April 10--Chelsea saw their lead at the top of the English Premiership cut to 11 points after they came from a goal behind to draw 1-1 against Birmingham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, AFP reported.
Second-placed Arsenal closed the gap after being made to work hard for a 1-0 win away to Middlesbrough but Manchester United’s dwindling title hopes were finally extinguished with a shock 2-0 defeat at bottom-of-the-table Norwich.
The Canaries inflicted what was only United’s third league defeat of the season thanks to two second-half goals at Carrow Road, courtesy of a Dean Ashton header
Elsewhere at the bottom, Portsmouth--in their first match under new French boss Alain Perrin--beat Charlton 4-2 to pull seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Blackburn also continued to move away from danger with a 3-0 thrashing of Pompey’s nearest pursuers Southampton.
Liverpool, however, missed the chance to leapfrog Everton into the fourth Champions League spot, after a 1-0 defeat away to Manchester City where Kiki Musampa’s last minute goal gave manager Stuart Pearce his first win in charge.
Bolton closed to within a point of Liverpool with a 3-1 victory over Fulham.
After a tense affair at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho said: “It was a bad performance in the first half, it looked like a friendly. The second half was a game.
Chelsea hadn’t lost in 32 matches at their Stamford Bridge home and had only lost once in the league this season, against Manchester City in October.
But that proud record was in danger when keeper Petr Cech got nowhere near a free-kick into the area and Birmingham’s Matthew Upson kept the ball alive for Walter Pandiani to fire the visitors ahead in the 65th minute.
But eight minutes from time, striker Didier Drogba levelled for Chelsea.
Arsenal were frustrated by Boro’s defense before Robert Pires fired home the only goal from close range in the 73rd minute.

Chris DiMarco of the US tees off on the 3rd hole during the 3rd round of the US Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, USA, Saturday. (AFP Photo)

AUGUSTA, USA,
April 10--South Africa’s Trevor Immelman reeled off four consecutive birdies to vault up the leaderboard in the US Masters third round on Saturday as Tiger Woods made an early move of his own, Reuters reported.
The 25-year-old Immelman, who teed off at the 10th hole, picked up shots on 13, 15, 16, 17 and 18 to reach the turn in five-under 31.
That left him seven shots behind tournament leader Chris DiMarco with Augusta National Golf Club bathed in late afternoon sunshine.
With hardly a breath of wind on the third day of the year’s first major championship, the game’s best players all began to take advantage.
American Ryder Cup player DiMarco, whose second successive 67 earned him a four-stroke lead when the weather-delayed second round was finally completed earlier on Saturday, birdied the par-five second to move to 11 under for the tournament.
His playing partner Thomas Bjorn of Denmark had birdied the first to close briefly to within three strokes of the lead before Woods and defending champion Phil Mickelson signaled their own intentions.
Three-time winner Woods, whose last major victory came at the 2002 US Open, birdied the second and third to get to six under.
Left-hander Mickelson, playing two groups ahead, picked up shots at the par-four third and par-four fifth to lie at four under.
Bjorn, however, then holed a 15-foot birdie putt at the third to move to eight under, just three adrift of DiMarco.
Saturday, traditionally known as ’Moving Day’ at the majors, was living up to its reputation.
Earlier, DiMarco moved four strokes clear of the field with a charging Woods in hot pursuit after completing a 36-hole aggregate of 10-under 134.
Bjorn finished alone in second place, after a matching 67, with Woods third after shooting a best-of-the day 66.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 10--South Africa captain Graeme Smith led from the front with a half-century to steer his side to 182 for three on the second day of the second test against West Indies on Saturday, Reuters reported.
South Africa made steady progress after curtailing the West Indian innings to 347.
Smith was unbeaten on 90 with nightwatchman Monde Zondeki on one. He faced 196 balls and hit 10 fours in a careful innings.
Brian Lara smashed a brilliant 196 to anchor the West Indian innings while fast bowler Makhaya Ntini took six for 95.
The Trinidadian fell just short of what would have been his first test double century on his home ground when he was bowled by Andre Nel for 196 to end West Indies’ innings.
The former captain faced 286 balls and hit 25 fours in his magnificent innings that began with West Indies in trouble on 13 for two.
Lara’s century was his 27th, which made him the West Indian with the most test hundreds to his credit.
Previously, Lara and Garfield Sobers had 26 centuries.
Lara’s innings also saw him leapfrog Sunil Gavaskar (10,122) and Sachin Tendulkar (10,134) into third place on the list of all-time leading run-scorers in test cricket.
Lara began the match with 10,094 runs.
Fast bowler Makhaya Ntini added two wickets to his overnight tally and finished with six for 95.
West Indies resumed on 281 for six and South Africa took the second new ball almost eight overs after it was due with the third delivery of the day’s play.
Ntini claimed his fifth wicket in the fifth over of the morning when Courtney Browne edged a ball on to his thigh pad and into the hands of Jacques Rudolph at short leg.
Browne scored 26, and his dismissal ended a stand of 74 for the seventh wicket scored with Lara.
The innings ended when Lara pushed forward to a delivery from Nel, missed it and looked back to see the ball had clipped the top of his off-bail.
Nel celebrated by leaping up and down, even as the crowd fell silent.
Smith and AB de Villiers shared an enterprising opening stand of 70 for South Africa that ended when De Villiers, who scored 33, drove a ball from fast bowler Reon King uppishly to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at short extra cover.
South Africa were 86 for two in the fifth over before tea when medium pacer Dwayne Bravo had Jacques Rudolph caught behind by wicketkeeper Browne for eight.
Smith and Jacques Kallis batted conservatively together in their stand of 95 that endured until the fourth ball before the close when Bravo trapped Kallis in front for 39.

ROME, April 10--AC Milan and Juventus remain neck and neck at the top of Italy’s Serie A after they were both held on Saturday, AFP reported.
Milan drew 1-1 at home to relegation threatened Brescia, while Juventus came from behind three times to earn a 3-3 draw away to Fiorentina where Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice for the visitors.
Milan and Juve are tied for first place with 67 points, with eight games of the season left.
Third-placed Inter Milan made some ground on the top two, but are still 14 points off the pace after their 1-0 win away to Bologna where Argentine striker Julio Cruz scored against his former club to secure the three points.
Looking jaded after their 2-0 win over city rivals Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday, Milan were denied their ninth consecutive league victory three minutes from time when Cameroon defender Pierre Wome found the bottom corner of the net with a low, angled drive.
Manuel Rui Costa, who signed a one-year contract extension earlier this week, gave Milan the lead in the 14th minute with a right-footed curler from the edge of the 18-yard box.
Brescia, who held AC Milan to a goalless draw back in November, remain second from bottom on 27 points, three ahead of bottom club Atalanta.
A full house in Florence witnessed a six-goal thriller.
Giampaolo Pazzini’s superb right-footed strike gave Fiorentina the lead, before Alessandro Del Piero leveled the score when his shot slipped through the fingers of Christian Cejas.
Giorgio Chiellini’s flicked header restored the home side’s lead, but another Cejas error gifted Ibrahimovic his first goal of the night.
The Argentine keeper’s attempted clearance fell straight to the feet of the former Ajax forward and he drilled the ball back into an unguarded net.
Dario Dainelli thought he had given Fiorentina a much-needed win when he headed home Marco Donadel’s free-kick in the 75th minute, only for Ibrahimovic to salvage a point for Juve eight minutes from time.
Cutting in from the left wing, the Sweden international played a quick one-two with Stephen Appiah before clipping the ball over the advancing Cejas.

PARIS, April 10--Two goals by Pierre-Alain Frau gave leaders Olympique Lyon a hard-earned 2-2 draw at struggling Nantes on Saturday to extend their lead in Ligue 1 to 14 points, Reuters reported.
Olympique Marseille conceded more ground when they bowed 1-0 at Racing Strasbourg, Mamadou Niang netting the winner in stoppage time. Lyon have 66 points from 32 games, while Marseille are level on 52 points with second-placed Lille. Nantes slumped to 16th, five points above the relegation zone with six matches left to play.
An under-strength Lyon side were 1-0 up after Frau slotted home a superb volley from a narrow angle in the 36th minute but Mauro Cetto equalized for the hosts in first-half injury time.
Nantes then took the lead thanks to a 67th-minute goal by Mamadou Bagayoko and seemed to be heading for an upset victory. But Frau, playing to give Sidney Govou a rest, netted in the 83rd minute from a fine cross by defender Anthony Reveillere to save Lyon from a third Ligue 1 defeat of the season.
The champions rested several players, including midfielder Juninho, defender Eric Abidal and striker Sylvain Wiltord as well as Govou before their visit to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Lyon were held to a 1-1 home draw by the Dutch champions in the first leg of their quarterfinal and must score to have any chance of reaching the last four.
Marseille produced a lackluster performance at Strasbourg and apart from one clear chance by Laurent Batlles in the 26th minute they never looked in a position to score. Niang netted the winner from close range after a Marseille defender failed to clear the ball at a corner one minute into injury time.
Paris St Germain had to share the points in a 1-1 draw with Girondins Bordeaux at the Parc des Princes.
St Etienne sunk troubled Bastia 3-0 thanks to goals by Julien Sable in the seventh minute, a penalty by Pascal Feindouno five minutes from time and a third from striker Frederic Piquionne in injury time.
Bottom-of-the-table Istres snatched their fourth victory of the season by taming Sochaux 2-0, a victory which may not be enough to avoid a return to the second division.

TORONTO, April 10--Vince Carter scored 45 points as the New Jersey Nets continued their drive towards the playoffs with a 99-86 win over the Boston Celtics in National Basketball Association play in East Rutherford on Saturday, Reuters said.
Carter had 24 of his points in the first quarter alone as the Nets (38-39) won for the 11th time in their past 14 games to sit just behind Cleveland and Philadelphia in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
It was a career-high quarter point total for Carter, who also tied his season-high for points in one game while going 18-for-32 from the field.
Nenad Krstic added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Nets, while Jason Kidd had 17 assists and nine rebounds to go along with his four points.
Paul Pierce had 16 points to lead the Celtics, who played most of the game without their coach after Doc Rivers was ejected for arguing a call in the first quarter.
Ricky Davis added 14 points for Boston.
In other games, Andre Iguodala had 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Wizards 112-106 in Washington despite playing without Allen Iverson.
In Atlanta, Tyronn Lue scored 23 points as the Hawks ended a 14-game losing streak by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 105-98.
In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 40 points and had seven three-pointers as the Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 98-81.
In Chicago, Kirk Hinrich scored 25 points as the Bulls clinched their first playoff spot since Michael Jordan retired with a 110-97 win over the Toronto Raptors.
In Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and nine rebounds as the Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 88-81 to secure home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
In Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points as the streaking Nuggets beat the Seattle SuperSonics 121-105.
In Phoenix, Tracy McGrady had 34 points and eight rebounds as the Houston Rockets edged the Suns 98-97.
In Los Angeles, Manu Ginobili had 40 points and nine assists as the San Antonio Spurs outlasted the Clippers 125-124 in double overtime.

French driver Sebastien Loeb powers his Citroen through a special stage near Raglan on the way to winning the 2005 Rally of New Zealand, Saturday. (AFP Photo)

SYDNEY, Australia, April 10--World champion Sebastien Loeb claimed his second victory of the season when he completed a convincing win in the New Zealand rally on Sunday, Reuters reported.
Driving a Citroen, the Frenchman finished nearly 50 seconds clear of Finland’s former two-time world champion Marcus Gronholm to jump into second place in the championship race after the fourth rally of the 16-round calendar.
Petter Solberg of Norway leads the title standings by a point after finishing third in his Subaru.
Loeb’s Belgian teammate Francois Duval took fourth place to collect his first points of the season ahead of Estonia’s Markko Martin and Finn Toni Gardemeister, who are third and fourth in the standings respectively.
Loeb went into Sunday’s final leg, made up of four special stages, with a massive lead after dominating the first two days north of Auckland, allowing him to drive conservatively.
Gronholm topped the timesheets in Sunday’s first three stages to cut the deficit to 40.1 seconds but the Frenchman won the final stage to extend his advantage to 49.8 seconds and add New Zealand to his win in the season-opening rally in Monaco.
Solberg, who took the previous two rounds in Sweden and Mexico, also eased off the gas on Sunday, finishing 18.9 seconds behind Gronholm but still safely on the podium to keep the championship lead.