Agassi played his first fight of the season

Chronicle of sporting events

In the opening round of the first category BTA tournament with a prize fund of $1.34 million in Tokyo, Russian Maria Kirilenko defeated Italian tennis player Mara Santangelo - 6:4, 6:1. Last year's champion of these competitions, Maria Sharapova, "seeded" here as number one, will enter the fight from the second round and will meet the winner of the match between Americans Meilen Tu and Lisa Raymond.

At the men's tournament in Zagreb with a total bonus of 323,250 euros, Igor Andreev lost to the wild card holder, local player Marin Kilic - 3:6, 6:1, 3:6. The record holder for the number of titles among active tennis players, American Andre Agassi (pictured) , who missed the recent Australian Open, successfully played his first official match of the season. Agassi defeated Brazilian Riccardo Mello at a tournament in Delray Beach (USA) - 6:4, 6:4.

Big troubles await 23-year-old Karol Beck, who occupies 76th place in the world classification. According to the president of the Slovak Tennis Federation, Igor Moska, Beck's doping test taken last year gave a positive result, and he faces a two-year disqualification. Ilya TRISVIATSKY

Navka will perform in Turin

The other day, the International Skating Union (ISU) made a special statement regarding the Russian figure skater Tatyana Navka. It reports that the ISU has no claims against the athlete, and the issue of her non-participation in the Winter Games in Turin has been removed from the agenda.

The reason for clarification from the ISU was an incident that happened at the recent European Championships in Lyon. While performing a free dance, Tatyana cut her hand with a skate blade. Instead of a doping procedure, the skater was sent to the hospital, where she received nine stitches. Permission for this was given by ISU medical representative Ruben Ambartsumov. However, the commissioners of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) became interested in the details of what happened and demanded additional clarification. ISU representative Maria Lundmark spoke in defense of the Russian and sent the athlete to the hospital because the Russian needed urgent medical care. After which Ms. Lundmark allowed her partner Roman Kostomarov to undergo a doping test.

The explanations of the ISU representatives were exhaustive, however, the leadership of the International Skating Union considered it necessary to make a special statement on this topic. According to the President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation Valentin Piseev, Navka and Kostomarov have already started training in New Jersey, although it is still difficult for them to perform complex lifts. Olga ERMOLINA

Australian Lenton rewrites world record

Australian swimmer Lisbeth Lenton set a world record in the 100m freestyle. The former, authored by Lenton's compatriot Jodie Henry, lasted almost two years after the Athens Games. In the semi-finals of the national championship, held at the Aquatic Center in Melbourne, the 20-year-old athlete covered the 100 meters in 53.42 seconds, improving Henry’s result by one tenth. Let us remind you that this season Lenton is also performing brilliantly at the Short Course World Cup. She is the leader in the overall standings, ahead of other competitors. Olga ERMOLINA

Reorganization in PHL continues

Yesterday at a meeting of the board of the Professional Hockey League (PHL), the corporatization of this organization was announced. The newly formed PHL CJSC included 16 of the 18 Super League clubs, except for Moscow Spartak and Omsk Avangard. They will become part of the shareholders later, after finalizing the relevant documentation, but for now they will be members of PHL CJSC on the basis of a temporary agreement. The post of PHL President, previously held by the current head of the Hockey Federation, Alexander Steblin, has been abolished. Management of the league is entrusted to the elected chairman of the supervisory board. Mikhail Margelov, Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, received one-year powers. Vladimir Shalaev was elected General Director of PHL CJSC. Vladimir ILYIN

Bryzgalov won, Nabokov lost

Hockey. NHL. Regular season. "Rangers" -- "Philadelphia" -- 2:3 (OT), "Florida" -- "Toronto" -- 2:4, "Ottawa" -- "Boston" -- 0: 5 -- Samsonov "B" (1+0), “Minnesota” -- “Detroit” -- 4:5 - - Zyuzin “M” (1+0), “St. Louis” -- “Calgary” -- 3:2 (B), "Dallas" -- "San Jose" -- 3:2 (OT) - - Zubov "D" (1+1), "Anaheim" -- "Los Angeles" -- 4:3 (OT) -- Frolov “LA” (0+1).

Two goalkeepers of the Russian Olympic team took part in the match day matches. San Jose goalkeeper Evgeniy Nabokov, having stopped 25 shots, was unable to save his team from defeat. At the same time, Nabokov was upset by Sergei Zubov, who made an assist and scored a goal that sent the game into overtime.

Anaheim goalkeeper Ilya Bryzgalov also had to work overtime. True, the “ducks” managed to hit the Kings’ goal in the second minute of overtime. Bryzgalov's teammate Teemu Selanne scored two goals in this match and crossed the 1,000-point mark in his career.

Basketball. NBA. Regular season . "Atlanta" - "New York" - 120:101, "Charlotte" - "Cleveland" - 91:103, "Miami" - "Clippers" - 118:114, "Memphis" - " Houston" -- 86:77, "Minnesota" -- "Boston" -- 110:85, "New Orleans" -- "Milwaukee" -- 94:93, "Utah" -- "San Antonio" -- 70:79 -- Kirilenko (10 points + 10 rebounds + 2 assists + 4 steals), Seattle -- Portland -- 111:116 -- Khryapa "P" (6 points + 4 rebounds + 1 assist) . Konstantin IVANOV

Ilya TRISVIATSKY