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Courier-Sampras exhibition postponed

 
Published Oct. 27, 1994|Updated Oct. 8, 2005

The annual tennis exhibition between Jim Courier and Pete Sampras at the USF Sun Dome will be moved from its December date to sometime early next year, event organizers said Wednesday.

Officials at The Children's Home of Tampa, one of the event's local beneficiaries , said Courier asked to change the date because he didn't want to play any type of competitive tennis in December, when he usually takes a break from the tour.

"The word we got was that Jim felt like he needed the whole month to recoup," said Becca Hall of The Children's Home. "So we're shooting for February."

MORE TENNIS: Andre Agassi, blanked in the first set and down 2-4, 15-40 in the second, produced a great comeback to beat Nicklas Kulti in the second round at the Stockholm Open. The U.S. Open champion, ranked eighth in the world after winning last week's tournament in Austria, won 0-6, 7-5, 6-4. Michael Chang, the No.

7 seed, became the highest seed to fall, losing 6-4, 6-3 to hard-hitting Swede Magnus Larsson. Anke Huber needed just 63 minutes to knock Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia out of the Nokia Grand Prix in Essen, Germany, winning 6-3, 6-0. Jana Novotna also advanced.

BOXING: Oliver McCall's first defense of his World Boxing Council heavyweight title will come Jan. 21 against former champion Larry Holmes, who turns 45 in a week. McCall, 29, won the crown Sept. 25 with a shocking second-round knockout of Lennox Lewis. No site has been selected.

HORSE RACING: A record 126 horses were pre-entered in the seven Breeders' Cup races, with Bertrando and Best Pal paying $360,000 apiece in supplemental fees to join the stampede in the wide-open $3-million Classic. The list includes 33 horses from Europe, but American horses will be cast in starring roles: Lure going for his third straight victory in the Mile race; Paradise Creek shooting for his ninth in 10 starts this year in the Turf race; Sky Beauty trying to outrun Heavenly Prize in the Distaff; Flanders seeking to extend her command in the Juvenile Fillies. The event also welcomes back Wayne Lukas, the most successful trainer in Breeders' Cup history. Six of the Nov. 5 races will have full fields; only the Distaff fell short of the 14 horses allowed.

GOLF: After battling for the Vardon Trophy and the earnings title this weekend, close friends Nick Price and Greg Norman plan to team for a series of exhibitions that could earn both millions of dollars. The format of the exhibitions has yet to be confirmed, Norman said. Basically, it would involve Price and Norman playing other two-man teams from around the world with a $1-million, winner-take-all purse. Possible opponents, Norman said, include Ernie Els and David Frost of South Africa, Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain, and Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie of England. Ballesteros, the Masters champion, said he has decided not to join the PGA Tour full time next year.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Arkansas freshman Kareem Reid's third try on the ACT wasn't the charm. Coach Nolan Richardson said Reid's score did not meet the minimum of 16.5. Reid scored 20 in June, but retook the test after ACT officials decided to review his performance. Western Michigan guard Saddi Washington, injured in the season's first practice, will be lost for the season with a knee injury.

VOLLEYBALL: The eighth-ranked University of Florida women's team (19-3) saw its 12-match winning streak snapped by No. 12 Notre Dame 9-15, 15-8, 15-8, 15-7 at the O'Connell Center.

DEATHS: Ecio Louis Luciano, an All-America football player at Holy Cross, died Monday in Arlington, Mass. He was 79. Andy Mooradian, longtime athletic director at the University of New Hampshire, died Wednesday of cancer in Dover, N.H. He was 71.

_ Compiled from Times wires