Sports briefs for March 4, 2005

Friday, March 4, 2005 | 10:52 a.m.

Dubai bracket sets up for a major rematch

Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams both cruised through the Dubai Women's Open quarterfinals Thursday, remaining on course for a repeat of their Australian Open final.

Meanwhile, French Open champion Anastasia Myskina squandered a match point and was ousted by eighth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-7 (0), 7-6 (2), 6-2.

Davenport beat wild card Conchita Martinez of Spain 6-1, 6-4 in 77 minutes, while Australian Open champion Williams handled Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3 in 68 minutes.

Davenport will meet Schnyder in Friday's semifinals, and Williams faces Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro. Jankovic routed wild card Sania Mirza of India 6-2, 6-2 in 48 minutes to reach her first tour semifinals since October.

The third-seeded Myskina lost in the Dubai quarterfinals for the fourth year in a row. She swept the first-set tiebreaker against Schnyder, and rallied from 4-0 down to reach match point at 6-5 on the Swiss player's serve.

Minardi team back on for Formula One opener

Minardi is back in the season-opening Formula One Grand Prix -- for now. Just when the smallest of the 10 F1 teams thought it had cleared a final hurdle and was going to race at the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne, another unexpectedly developed: stewards refused to allow the struggling team to practice today.

Minardi owner Paul Stoddart said he was shocked by the decision and immediately sought an injunction in court.

He won the injunction, meaning his Minardi racers will be allowed to enter Saturday's practice session, with further court deliberations scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

It's still no guarantee that Minardi, which is trying to circumvent 2005 design regulations for its cars, will be allowed to race in Sunday's season-opening Grand Prix.

'Big League Weekend' goes to overflow seats

The two major league exhibition games for Big League Weekend between the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs scheduled for 7:05 p.m. April 1 and 1:05 p.m. April 2 at Cashman Field have sold out for assigned seating.

"Overflow Seating" for both games will go on sale at noon Monday at the Cashman Field box office and Ticketmaster.com.

Overflow seating will be priced at $25 per ticket.

Debut for new Wembley

The first game at the new Wembley Stadium will be the FA Cup final on May 13, 2006. The English Football Association announced the date, moving the game forward by a week to give players on England's national team a four-week break before the start of the World Cup in Germany. The Premier League will also end a week earlier.

SEC adds replay

The Southeastern Conference became the latest conference to approve the experimental use of instant replay as an officiating tool for the 2005 season.

14-year-old on a roll

South Korean Mao Asada, 14, competing in her sixth international meet, ran her told medal count to six by winning the World Junior Figure Skating Championship ladies singles title at Kitchener, Ontario. South Korean teammate Yu-Na Kim, also 14, was second and 16-year-old American Emily Hughes was third.