Bad time for Test - Lara
GROS ISLET, St. Lucia (CMC): WITH A clash of the current four-Test series against India and World Cup football in Germany, West Indies captain Brian Lara is not surprised by the low spectator turnout for the second Test here.

Brazil to take World Cup stage
BERLIN (AP): TIME TO samba. Brazil sets course for what could be its sixth World Cup title - twice as many as any other country - when it plays Croatia at the Olympic Stadium today. Already, thousands of Brazilian fans are in town.

Czechs give US a lesson
GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP): JAN KOLLER scored early, and Tomas Rosicky added two more goals yesterday to lead the Czech Republic to a 3-0 win over the United States in Group E of the World Cup.

Pick-9 up to $2 million
THE PICK-9 proved elusive for the fourth consecutive raceday at Caymanas Park on Saturday, the carryover to tomorrow's midweek pro-gramme standing at a whopping $2,049,865. Thanks to upsets by LE CHIC at 12-1 in the ninth race...

FROM THE BOUNDARY - Promising start in race for the Cup
THE WORLD Cup of football got off to a fine start in Munich on Friday afternoon and although it is too early to tell, based on the eight matches played up to Sunday evening and with due respect to Brazil, the people's favourites...

No fluke! - 'I just proved that I did it before and I can do it again and that I am the best'
JOINT WORLD 100m record holder Asafa Powell said he had no plans to break the record at Sunday's IAAF Grand Prix at Gateshead in London. "No, there was no plan... I didn't even know I was running that fast anyway," Powell told journalists...

Ottey looking to run at Euro Champs
RIVAS, Spain (CMC): JAMAICA-BORN veteran sprint star Merlene Ottey, now representing Slovenia, is astonishingly thinking of a championship appearance this summer in Europe at age 46. Ottey, a two-time World Championship gold medallist over 200 metres...

Jamaica teams shooting for regional glory
JAMAICA'S MALE and female contingent will begin their hunt for double gold when the 18th Caribbean Basketball Championships get under way at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) today.

Sarwan to lead Guyana
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC): WEST INDIES batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has been named to replace Shivnarine Chanderpaul as captain of Guyana to this summer's rich Stanford Twenty20 cricket tournament in Antigua.