Closing ceremony of the Fourth International Islamic Women Games was held in Tehran on Thursday. (ISNA Photos)

Andriy Voronin (l) of Bayer 04 Leverkusen challenges for the ball with Yordan Yurukov of CSKA Sofia, during the first round of UEFA Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria on Thursday. (AP Photo)

SOFIA, Bulgaria, Sept. 30--Former champions Bayer Leverkusen, Feyenoord and Galatasaray were eliminated from the UEFA Cup in the first round Thursday.
According to AP, Leverkusen lost 1-0 at CSKA Sofia, which got a 67th-minute goal from Mourad Hdiouad, and lost the home-and-home, total-goals series on 2-0 aggregate.
“This is bitter--the team is devastated,“ Leverkusen interim coach Rudi Voeller said.
“I will try and lift their spirits. But if you can’t score a goal in two matches against a team like Sofia, then you can’t advance.“
Leverkusen won the UEFA Cup in 1988 and was runner-up in the 2002 Champions League.
Dutch league leader Feyenoord, the UEFA Cup champion in 1974 and 2002, lost 1-0 at Romania’s Rapid Bucharest and was eliminated on 2-1 aggregate. Mugurel Buga scored on a header in the 12th minute.
Galatasaray, the Turkish club that beat Arsenal for the 2000 title, tied 1-1 with Tromso, but the Norwegian club advanced 2-1 on aggregate.
It was a good night for Romanian clubs. Steaua Bucharest, the 1986 European champion, beat Valerenga 3-1 to advance 6-1, and Dinamo Bucharest eliminated England’s Everton on 5-2 aggregate.
Defending champion CSKA Moscow overcame an early goal from FC Midtjylland to win 3-1 at Herning, Denmark, and advanced on 6-2 aggregate. Daniel Carvalho scored twice and Sergei Samodin once.
Sporting Lisbon, last year’s runner-up, was eliminated at home on away goals after Sweden’s Halmstads BK scored in second-half injury time to tie the aggregate at 3-3. The aggregate was 4-4 after overtime, and the Swedish team advanced.

NEW YORK, Sept. 30--Derrek Lee and Matt Murton homered while Glendon Rusch provided seven sharp innings on the mound as the Chicago Cubs edged the Houston Astros 3-2 at Minute Maid Park on Thursday to tighten up the NL wild card race, according to Reuters.
The loss trimmed the Astros’ lead to two games over the idle Philadelphia Phillies with three contests remaining in the regular season for both teams.
The Astros will send Andy Pettitte to the mound with a chance to clinch the playoff spot on Friday with Roger Clemens scheduled to start on Saturday.
Philadelphia opens a season-ending three-game series in Washington against the Nationals starting on Friday.
The Astros drew first blood, taking a 1-0 second inning lead on Lance Berkman’s 23rd homer of the season.
But Chicago quickly took control, Murton tying the score with a solo shot in fourth before Lee gave the Cubs the lead with his 46th homer of the season
The Cubs added another run in the seventh when Jeromy Burnitz scored on a wild pitch, putting the Cubs ahead 3-1.
Jeff Bagwell’s seventh inning sacrifice fly brought home Chris Burke to get Houston within one.
The Astros had a chance to tie the contest in the ninth but Charles Gipson was thrown out at home plate to end the game.
“The good news about this ballclub is we’ve been resilient,“ Astros manager Phil Garner said.
Rusch (9-8) was solid on the hill for the Cubs, yielding two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts to earn the win.
Ryan Dempster came on in the ninth to get the final three outs to nail down the victory with his 32nd save.
In New York, David Wright belted a pair of home runs and Tom Glavine tossed a two-hit shutout as the Mets trounced the Colorado Rockies 11-0.
In Milwaukee, Gary Glover tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out a career-best 10 batters as the Brewers blanked the Cincinnati Reds 2-0.
In Los Angeles, Luis Gonzalez drove in a run and scored twice helping the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 3-2 victory over the Dodgers.
In San Diego, Damian Jackson went drove in David Ross with the game’s only run in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift Padres past the San Francisco Giants 1-0.

PALERMO, Italy,
Sept. 30--Second-seeded Tommy Robredo advanced to the Palermo International quarterfinals Thursday, beating fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-2, 7-5.
According to AP, Robredo will face Italy’s top player Filippo Volandri, who routed Christophe Rochus of Belgium 6-0, 6-0.
Eighth-seeded Davide Sanguinetti defeated Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-4 in 84 minutes to set up a quarterfinal match with Andreas Seppi.
Seppi needed 2 hours, 44 minutes to get past Razvan Sabau of Romania 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5. After dropping two match points at 5-4 in the final set, he broke Sabau at love in the final game.
Meanwhile, Nadia Petrova defeated Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-1 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Fortis Championships.
Second-seed Petrova will face Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who beat Anna Smashnova of Israel 6-1, 6-2.
Third-seeded Patty Schnyder lost 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4 to Roberta Vinci of Italy. Vinci will play Russian Dinara Safina, who reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Slovakia’s Jarmila Gajdosova.
Fourth-seeded Nathalie Dechy of France defeated Madagascar’s Dally Randriantefy 6-1, 6-1. Dechy will play Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova.
Defending champion Kim Clijsters advanced to the quarterfinals in Wednesday’s 6-3, 6-0 win over Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic. She will play sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone.
Clijsters, a four-time champion, is 23-1 in Luxembourg.

NEW YORK, Sept. 30--Unheralded American Charles Warren fired a course record-equalling 10-under-par 62 to race two shots clear of the field after the first round of the Greensboro Classic in North Carolina on Thursday.
According to Reuters, Warren, who has missed the cut in 13 of his last 15 tournaments, started on the 10th tee at the Forest Oaks Country Club and picked up six birdies in a sizzling outward nine.
The 30-year-old added four more birdies on the inward half to tie the course record shared by Davis Love III, Mark O’Meara and Jeff Maggert.
South Korea’s K.J. Choi shot an eight-under-par 64 to stand alone in second place, a stroke ahead of American D.J. Trahan.
“That’s as close to a perfect round of golf as I’ve ever played,“ Warren said.
Choi’s start was almost as spectacular with birdies on his opening five holes.
The South Korean stumbled with a bogey on the par-four sixth but that was the only blemish on an otherwise error-free day as he collected further birdies on seven and nine to reach the turn at six-under.
Choi completed his round with two more birdies on the inward stretch.
“I always have a good feeling when I come here,“ Choi said.
“This morning when I woke up, I felt like I woke up on the right side of the bed.“
Starting on the back nine, Trahan made three consecutive birdies from the 12th before finishing his round in style with an eagle on the par-five ninth.
South African Tim Clark, Japan’s Hidemichi Tanaka and Americans John Huston and J.J. Henry carded 66s.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who won the European Masters in Switzerland earlier this month, had five birdies and two bogeys in a three-under 69.
World number seven Adam Scott of Australia and defending champion Brent Geiberger struggled to one-over 73s.

RENO, USA, Sept. 30--Chris Byrd defends a share of the heavyweight throne while James Toney makes his return from a doping suspension in an all-American fight card here Saturday that could set up a future title clash.
According to AFP, Southpaw Byrd, 38-2 with one drawn and 20 knockouts, defends the International Boxing Federation crown against friend DaVarryl Williamson, 22-3 with eight knockouts.
“We knew we were going to have to fight each other eventually,“ Byrd said. “We know what’s at stake here. I don’t hate DaVarryl. We spar, we talk trash, we go back and forth. This will be a great fight.
“In the ring, I don’t think there’s anybody better than me.“
Williamson, 37, received his title chance when compatriot Hasim Rahman elected to fight for a chance at the World Boxing Council crown, something he will get in a November bout against Ukranian Vitali Klitschko.
“I have to outbox Chris. I have to outbang him,“ Williamson said. “I have to hold my ground, create separation with body work. I have to keep him one step behind every time. It’s going to be my toughest fight.“
Toney, 68-4 with two drawn and 43 knockouts, tested positive for steroids after beating Puerto Rican John Ruiz in April for the World Boxing Association title. His comeback begins against Dominick Guinn, 25-2 with a draw and 18 knockouts.
Toney, 36, said he never knowingly took steroids but did take medications to help his recovery from a torn biceps muscle and fought two months earlier than he had planned when he had the chance to prove he was a champion.
Toney was suspended for 90 days by the New York State Athletic Commission, fined $10,000 and stripped of the WBA crown, which reverted to Ruiz.
Toney cannot fight for the WBA crown again but he could challenge Byrd for the IBF crown. Byrd took a verbal jab at Toney over his doping positive and was less than excited about a title fight against Toney should both win Saturday.
“If his urine sample doesn’t come back dirty, yeah, he’s a champion. But it did,“ Byrd said. Ukranian Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali’s brother, is the top-ranked IBF contender and would be next in line to fight the Byrd-Williamson winner.
But Wladimir Klitschko is also the top contender for the lesser-regarded World Boxing Organization crown that Lamon Brewster defended Wednesday in Germany and could opt for a rematch with the American who dethroned him, opening the door for Byrd to fight Toney.

LONDON, Sept. 30--Epsom Derby winner Motivator, back to his optimum distance, is fully primed ahead of Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris, Reuters reported.
Twice beaten over 10 furlongs (2 km) since Epsom, a return to 12 (2.4 km) should suit ideally and bookmakers quote the colt as 4-1 third favorite.
Harry Herbert, racing manager for owners the Royal Ascot Racing Club, confirmed earlier this week: “The horse is in great shape and this is a race that I guess will decide the champion middle-distance horse.“
As at Epsom, Johnny Murtagh will partner Motivator at Longchamp where he seeks a second Arc success following victory on Sinndar five years ago.
Hurricane Run, the 5-2 favorite, is trained by French maestro Andre Fabre who is chasing a sixth Arc victory.
The colt battled to a half-length win over Scorpion in the Irish Derby in June and the latter has since gone on to win the English St Leger.
There may be little between the pair again with Kieren Fallon taking the mount on Hurricane Run and Mick Kinane partnering Scorpion, rated a 10-1 chance.
Trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre is hoping the rain holds off for Shawanda (3-1) who bids to become the first filly to win the Arc since Urban Sea in 1993.
Bago (6-1) captured the prize in 2004 for trainer Jonathan Pease and jockey Thierry Gillet but faces tougher opposition this time round.
The field of 16 also includes last year’s runner-up Cherry Mix (20-1), to be ridden by Frankie Dettori for Godolphin.

LONDON, Sept. 30--Liverpool will try to forget their penalty grievances in Sunday’s second Anfield meeting with Premier League champions Chelsea in four days, Reuters said.
Wednesday’s 0-0 Champions League draw was marked by passionate home support, a battle in which Liverpool more often had the upper hand and the refusal of two strong penalty appeals for the European champions.
Defender Jamie Carragher summed up both the frustration and the need to move on, telling reporters: “If we had got a penalty there is a 70 percent chance we would have scored and won the game.
“But we’ll try not to cry about it too much. We do things with dignity at this club and we will just get on with it.“
Liverpool are not expected to make changes on Sunday but Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho may put Joe Cole in for a disappointing Arjen Robben on the wing and Argentine striker Hernan Crespo could get the nod ahead of Didier Drogba.
Cole scored both goals in Chelsea’s 1-0 league wins over Liverpool last season. Crespo came on for winger Damien Duff for the last 15 minutes in midweek.
Another stalemate is the likely outcome and that would give a much-needed lift to the clubs pursuing Chelsea, who have made a record Premier League start to the season with seven consecutive wins.
Chelsea’s success, part of a 36-match unbeaten league run, has been in sharp contrast to the fates of their expected title rivals, Arsenal and Manchester United.