Sports briefs for September 8, 2004

Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004 | 10:47 a.m.

Iranian who wouldn't wrestle is rewarded

Iran has paid a judo champion who avoided an Olympic match against an Israeli the same $125,000 prize money it awarded its gold medal winners, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said today.

Though Arash Miresmaeli "did not get a gold medal, he earned eternal honor by his refusal," Mahmood Ahmadi Nejad, Tehran's conservative mayor, said, according to IRNA.

Miresmaeli had reportedly said that he would not meet Ehud Vaks in Athens as a gesture of sympathy with the Palestinian people. On the day of the bout, Miresmaeili, a favorite in the under-66 kilogram class, was declared overweight and disqualified.

Arash Miresmaeli's $125,000 reward was the same the government gave to weightlifter Hossein Rezazadeh and taekwondo champion Hadi Saei Bonehkohal, who both won in Athens.

Fame nominations

Former Grand Slam champions Jim Courier, Yannick Noah and Jana Novotna were eight nominees announced for the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. Also nominated were Owen Davidson, Christina Truman Janes, Patricia Canning Todd, Butch Buchholz Jr. and Eiichi Kawatei. The winners will be announced in January and inducted in July.

Wranglers sign two

The Las Vegas Wranglers added two defensemen to their 2004-05 ECHL roster -- Jon Krall, who joined the Wranglers for five games last spring after finishing his college career at Wisconsin, and Troy Smith, who will be turning professional this season after his college career at St. Francis Xavier in Nova Scotia.

Japanese set to strike

Setting the stage for the first players' strike in the history of Japanese baseball, the owners of Japan's 12 professional teams voted today to approve the merger between the Orix BlueWave and Kintetsu Buffaloes. The players association said it will refuse to play in weekend games between now and the end of September.

MWC salutes Rebels

UNLV swept the Mountain West Conference weekly honors in soccer for the first time with freshman forward Jessic Destito, a Cimarron-Memorial graduate, winning the offensive player of the week award, and junior goalkeeper Jenna Huff winning the defensive award.

Suns add guard

The Phoenix Suns signed Japanese guard Yuta Tabuse, who was waived after training camp with the Denver Nuggets last year but still hopes to become the first Japanese-born player to make the NBA.