Seles Moving Up With Another Title

Monica Seles became the first player to win the du Maurier Open three consecutive years, defeating Anke Huber of Germany, 6-2, 6-4, in the final Sunday at Toronto.

Seles began the streak in 1995 after missing more than 27 months, recovering from a stabbing during a tournament in Hamburg.

Seles, 23, took a big step toward regaining her top ranking in women’s tennis with her second victory of the season--the 40th of her career. She won $150,000.

Seles, who started the week ranked third in the world, will be second to Martina Hingis when the next rankings are released. Hingis didn’t play in the du Maurier because of visa problems.

*

Ninth-seeded Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden overcame the rain to defeat fifth-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), in the final of the RCA Championships at Indianapolis

Bjorkman won $150,000 for his singles title, but failed in his attempt to become the first player to win the singles and doubles titles at the Indianapolis Tennis Center since it was converted from clay to hardcourts in 1988.

Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden and Michael Tebbutt of Australia defeated Bjorkman and Nicklas Kulti of Sweden, 6-3, 6-2, in the doubles final.

The start of the singles championship match was delayed about 90 minutes by rain and was halted for another 30 minutes in the second set by another shower.

“I felt really strong today. The other times I had a lot of problems,” said Bjorkman, who had lost to Moya in their two previous matches.

Bjorkman, 25, had only two break points against him and won 79% of his first-serve points. He capitalized on his aggressive style to win 35 points in the 48 times he came to the net.

*

Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated No. 8 Patrick Rafter, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, to win the Pilot Pen International Tournament at New Haven, Conn.

It was Kafelnikov’s second title in three months.

Kafelnikov has played at the Connecticut Tennis Center every year since 1992, reaching at least the semifinals three times.

*

Unseeded Mike Sell of Moorestown, N.J. overtook second-seeded Gianluca Pozzi of Italy, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win the GHI Bronx Classic, his first victory in two years on the ATP Tour.

Second-seeded Rachel McQuillan of Australia, who is already in the main draw of the U.S. Open, defeated Erika deLone, of Lincoln, Mass., 6-1, 6-4, in the women’s final.

In the rain-postponed semifinal matches held over from Saturday night, Pozzi outlasted Quino Munoz of Spain, 7-5, 6-0, 6-4, and deLone rallied for a 1-6, 7-6, (7-5), 6-2 victory over Kaoru Shibata of Japan.

*

Bjorn Borg won his second Mentadent Champions tournament, defeating third-seeded Andres Gomez, 6-3, 7-5, in the final at Mashpee, Mass.

Borg, who also won the tournament in 1995, moved into fourth place in the Nuveen Masters standings with 1,145 points--five points behind No. 3 Johan Kreik. Gomez, with 1,235 points, moves past Kreik into second place behind Jimmy Connors.

Soccer

Patrick Mboma scored two goals as Cameroon became the fifth and final African nation to qualify for next summer’s World Cup, defeating Zimbabwe, 2-1, at Harare, Zimbabwe.

Edelbert Dinah scored with four minutes left for Zimbabwe.

Cameroon (4-0-2) finished first in Group Four with 14 points, three ahead of Angola (2-0-4). Zimbabwe and Togo are 1-4-1.

Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia qualified for the World Cup in June and South Africa qualified Saturday.

Diving

Laura Wilkinson won the three-meter springboard championship, her second title of the USA Senior National Diving Championships at Dallas, and David Pichler won his second consecutive 10-meter platform title.

The week-long competition ended with the top two finishers in each event qualifying for the U.S. team at next month’s Diving World Cup in Mexico City.

Wilkinson, of Spring, Texas, became the first diver since two-time Olympic bronze medalist Mary Ellen Clark in 1994 to win both of diving’s Olympic events at a U.S. national championship.

Tracy Bonner of Houston moved up two spots in the final round to finish second. Michelle Davison won the bronze.

In the men’s 10-meter platform, Pichler, a 1996 Olympian from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., won his fourth overall platform title with a 21-point victory over five-time U.S. springboard champion Troy Dumais of Ventura.

Pichler sealed the victory on his final dive, a reverse 3 1/2 somersaults tuck, that drew one 8.5, five 9s and a perfect 10 from the seven judges.

The Russians extended their diving dominance at the European Swimming Championships at Seville, Spain.

Yulia Pakhalina, 19, took the gold, knocking defending champion Russian Vera Iliyna into the silver spot, with Anna Lindberg of Sweden third.

Pakhalina, who began diving at 4, finished with 567.30 points and probably clinched the gold on her third dive--a reverse 2 1/2 that got 9s from five of the seven judges.

Iliyna, who won on the one-meter board Friday, finished with 524.28 points and Lindberg with 508.02.

Of the five diving golds awarded through Sunday, Russia won four, with the men’s 10-meter platform to be decided today. Overall, Russia has nine gold medals in 11 events.

Beach Volleyball

Karch Kiraly of San Clemente and Adam Johnson of Laguna Beach won their fourth consecutive tournament title, defeating Kent Steffes of Pacific Palisades and Jose Loiola of Brazil, 14-12, in overtime to win the $150,000 Miller Lite Open at Minneapolis. Kiraly and Johnson won $30,000.

Former UCLA All-American Erik Sullivan had 11 kills and nine digs to lead Team Outdoor Products to a 14-13 sudden death victory over Team Discus Athletic at the Bud Light Pro Beach Volleyball League event at Huntington Beach.

In the women’s event, Diane Shoemaker had seven kills and two blocks as Team Paul Mitchell defeated Team Nike, 15-13.

Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak, both of Manhattan Beach, defeated the Brazilian team of Monica Rodriguez and Adriana Samuel, 12-4, 11-12, 12-7, to win a FIVB tour event at Pusan, Korea. Arce and McPeak share the $25,000 first-place prize.