Injury Will Force Stich, 28, to Retire

Michael Stich, the 1991 Wimbledon champion and longtime German Davis Cup player, said Friday he will retire at the end of the tennis season because of recurring shoulder problems.

“It all comes down to this: It’s not fun any longer, it doesn’t make sense any longer,” said Stich, 28. “The last four months were frustrating. There were constant ups and downs.”

Stich said he will enter this year’s French Open and Wimbledon before ending his career in Germany’s Davis Cup match against Mexico in September.

Stich reached No. 2 in the world in 1994 but has slipped to No. 26 in the latest rankings. He has 18 singles titles and nine doubles titles, along with the 1992 Olympic championship with Boris Becker.

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Marc Rosset of Switzerland, weakened by flu, hung on to defeat second-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), and reached the semifinals of the BMW Open at Munich, Germany. Rosset, seeded seventh, was treated twice at courtside during the match.

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Maria Sanchez-Lorenzo of Spain, a qualifier ranked 121st, beat her idol, compatriot Conchita Martinez, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, to reach the semifinals of the Rexona Cup at Hamburg, Germany.

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Sweden’s Magnus Norman beat fifth-seeded Petr Korda and a fast approaching thunderstorm, finishing off the Czech, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the AT&T; Challenge at Duluth, Ga.

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Fifteen-year-old Mirjana Lucic of Croatia--playing in her first WTA tournament--upset fourth-seeded Katarina Studenikova of Slovak Republic, 7-5, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the Croatian Open at Bol. American Corina Morariu reached her first WTA semifinals by defeating Joanette Kruger of South Africa, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.

College Basketball

It seemed like a slam dunk only a couple of days ago, but now confusion reigns over whether former UCLA coach Jim Harrick will take over at Rhode Island.

Harrick said Friday he has a contract offer from Rhode Island, but school officials disputed that.

“I’ve got a contract in my hand and I think by this weekend there’ll be a decision made,” Harrick told ESPN Radio.

Rhode Island officials said Harrick was given contract details, but no offer has been made.

Robert Traylor, caught in a swirl of published reports linking him to an NCAA investigation of Michigan’s program, has decided to stay at the school.

Traylor, 6 feet 8 and 300 pounds, had been expected to declare himself eligible for the NBA draft, giving up his remaining two years of eligibility. But he called off a news conference and said he is staying at Michigan.

Louisville might have violated NCAA regulations when an assistant coach allegedly provided financial help to the father of freshman Nate Johnson, the Courier-Journal reported.

The NCAA said such a case might violate its rules barring special benefits to players or their relatives. The university already is on NCAA probation.

The newspaper said Carlton “Scooter” McCray acknowledged in an interview Tuesday using his personal credit card to help Frederick Johnson avoid being evicted from a Louisville hotel for failing to pay his bill.

A Fresno man was indicted on drug charges after refusing to tell federal authorities about a businessman named in a Fresno State point-shaving investigation. Anthony “Tony” Corral, 52, was arrested in March on methamphetamine charges but was released after agreeing to talk with investigators about Krikor “Kirk” Vartanian. Vartanian has been named in a federal probe in connection with possible point-shaving by Fresno State basketball players.

Mark Adams has been named women’s coach at UC Irvine. Adams, 36, was an assistant the last three seasons to Colleen Matsuhara, whose contract wasn’t renewed. . . . Dave Bollwinkel has been named men’s coach at St. Mary’s.

Motor Racing

Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace broke the Sears Point Raceway qualifying record and will start at the front in Sunday’s Save Mart 300 in Sonoma, Calif. Wallace, the 1996 winner, held the pole for about an hour with a lap of 92.533 mph. Then Martin raced over the 2.52-mile raceway at a record 92.807 mph for his first Winston Cup pole this year. The record was 92.524 mph, set last year by Terry Labonte.

Larry Dixon led the first round of Top Fuel qualifying for the NHRA’s Lone Star Nationals at Ennis, Texas, covering a quarter-mile in 4.650 seconds at 304.90 mph. John Force topped the funny car division with a track-record time of 4.905 seconds at 304.90 mph.

Miscellany

USC will host a track meet against UCLA and Brigham Young today at Cromwell Stadium. Field events start at 11 a.m. and running events at 11:30.

Darryl Williams scored with 13:11 to play as the Long Beach Ice Dogs defeated the Utah Grizzlies, 2-1, in the opening game of an International Hockey League Western Conference semifinal playoff series at Long Beach Arena.

Arturs Irbe made 34 saves, but Jorgen Jonsson beat him with 2:31 remaining, denying Latvia a historic victory and salvaging a 1-1 tie for Sweden at the World Hockey Championships at Turku, Finland.

Names in the News

Two-time Olympic champion Sebastian Coe was bounced from Parliament when the Conservative Party was swept from power in Britain’s general election. Coe lost his seat by 2,688 votes to Labor Party candidate Candice Atherton. . . . Cora L. Alcindor, the mother of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, died at Cedars Sinai Hospital after an extended illness. She was 79. . . . Tight end Ben Coates, the favorite target of quarterback Drew Bledsoe, will remain with the New England Patriots through 2000 after agreeing to a three-year contract extension. . . . Jerome Holtzman, national baseball correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, has been selected as the 1997 winner of the Red Smith Award for his distinguished service to sports journalism. . . . Corey Welch, who started at quarterback for Missouri in 1988, was shot to death and two men were wounded in a shootout in a shopping center parking lot, according to police in Kansas City, Kan.