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A roundup of the week Jan. 15-21
BADMINTON—LIEN SWIE KING of Indonesia beat countryman Llie Sumirat 15-8, 15-8 to win the World Champions Cup in Tokyo. LENE KOPPEN of Denmark defeated Horie Yuki of Japan 11-7, 11-6 for the women's title.
PRO BASKETBALL—With John Drew, who is averaging 24 points, leading the way, Atlanta extended its winning streak to six games. Drew scored 106 points as the Hawks defeated Houston 115-105, Portland 111-110 and New Orleans 118-94 and climbed to within three games of first-place San Antonio in the Central Division. Before dropping a 118-113 decision to the Trail Blazers, who had lost nine of their last 10 games, the Spurs ended Denver's six-game winning streak by a score of 119-101. San Antonio's George Gervin and Larry Kenon scored 30 and 29 points, respectively, while Nuggets David Thompson and George McGinnis combined for only 33. Two nights later Gervin and Kenon hit for 57 points between them, but Midwest Division leader Kansas City edged the Spurs 115-113 for its fifth straight victory. The Kings' streak was then broken when Detroit, winner of just three of its last 12 contests, beat the Kings 122-110. Bob Lanier had 27 points and rookie John Long 25 for the Pistons. In another upset, Cedric Maxwell pumped in 29 points as Boston won for the third time in 10 starts, defeating Philadelphia 108-102. The 76ers, who were 2-1 and second in the Atlantic Division, fell 3½ games behind first-place Washington, which won all four of its games. Paced by Dennis Johnson, who averaged 25.7 a game, Seattle increased its Pacific Division lead to 1½ games. After losing 108-99 to second-place Los Angeles, which was 1-2 for the week, the Sonics defeated Chicago 107-101, despite a 30-point effort from Artis Gilmore, and Indiana 112-102.
BOWLING—STEVE COOK defeated Earl Anthony 229-180 to win a $100,000 PBA tournament in Alameda, Calif.
BOXING—ANTONIO CERVANTES of Colombia rallied to win a unanimous decision over Miguel Montilla of the Dominican Republic and retain his WBA junior welterweight crown in New York City.
PRO FOOTBALL—Pittsburgh defeated Dallas 35-31 in the Super Bowl (page 8).
HOCKEY—NHL: The Rangers had an erratic week that began in Atlanta, where Don Murdoch, playing his second game following his 40-game suspension, scored three times in the third period to lift New York to a 6-4 defeat of the Flames. The next night Minnesota's Tim Young scored five times in an 8-1 rout of the Rangers that ended their five-game winning streak. Then, in their best performance of the season, the Rangers beat the Islanders 5-3 as Goalie John Davidson won his seventh straight game and Islander Goalie Glenn Resch lost for the first time in 24 starts. The Islanders' Denis Potvin, whose 59 points are tops among defensemen in the league, suffered a separated shoulder and will be sidelined about two weeks. In their final outing the Rangers, who are second in the Patrick Division, 13 points behind the Islanders, dropped a 3-2 decision to St. Louis. Earlier the Blues, who had not beaten the Rangers since November 1976, defeated slumping Adams Division leader Boston for the first time since October of the same year. Two days later the Bruins avenged the 5-2 loss with a 4-0 victory that snapped a three-game losing streak. Boston completed the week with a 2-1 loss to Buffalo. Serge Savard's goal, with 28 seconds remaining, gave Norris Division leader Montreal a 2-2 tie with Vancouver in a game that saw Guy Lafleur's consecutive-game scoring streak end at 23, five shy of his own league record. The Canadiens then trounced Los Angeles 7-3 behind Pat Hughes' hat trick and skated to a 5-5 deadlock with Philadelphia, which was 0-1-3 for the week. Chicago maintained a two-point lead over the Canucks in the Smythe Division despite losing two of three, including a 4-2 decision in New York to the Islanders, who remain unbeaten after 23 games this season on home ice and lead the NHL in points and goals.
WHA: Quebec moved to a four-point lead over second-place New England with a 4-2 defeat of the Whalers and a 10-1 trouncing of Winnipeg. The victory over the Jets featured two-goal performances by Real Cloutier, Marc Tardif and Alain Cotè. Nine players scored for Edmonton in its 11-3 rout of Birmingham, which lost all four of its games. The Oilers also beat the Jets 3-1 and 6-3. New England had lost three in a row—all at home—before winning a 3-1 decision over Cincinnati, which had won three consecutive games. During the Cincy streak, Robbie Ftorek, who leads the league in points with 72, had seven goals and five assists.
HORSE RACING—RADAR AHEAD ($10.40), Darrel McHargue up, won the $114,200 San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita by 2¾ lengths over 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed. The 4-year-old winner covered the 1‚Äö√Ñ√∂‚àö√±‚àö¬µ miles in 1:48. It was Affirmed's fifth loss in a row since winning the Jim Dandy Stakes last August in Saratoga, N.Y. (page 40).
MOTOR SPORTS—JACQUES LAFFITE of France, averaging 197.587 mph in his Legier JS11, won the Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires by 14.94 seconds over Carlos Reutemann of Argentina in a Lotus 79. The race was marred by an accident in the opening seconds that caused a 75-minute delay and forced eight cars to drop out.
TENNIS—JIMMY CONNORS defeated Eddie Dibbs 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 to win a $175,000 WCT tournament in Birmingham, Ala.
Harold Solomon beat Marty Riessen 7-5, 6-4 to win a $75,000 Grand Prix tournament in Towson, Md.
TRACK & FIELD—Running in the 55-meter high hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Invitational meet in New York City, RENALDO NEHEMIAH of the University of Maryland broke the world indoor record for both that event and the 60-yard high hurdles (page 21). His time of 6.88 was .07 of a second faster than the record he and Greg Foster of UCLA set in a dead-heat finish in the 60-yard high hurdles at the Philadelphia Classic the night before. Also at the Olympic Invitational, TODD SCULLY of Blacksburg, Va. set a world indoor record for the 1,500-meter walk. His time was 5:40.0.
MILEPOSTS—HIRED: As football coach at Iowa State, DONNIE DUNCAN, 38, who for the past six years has been an assistant at Oklahoma. Duncan succeeds Earle Bruce, who has been hired to replace Woody Hayes at Ohio State.
RESIGNED: Effective at the conclusion of this season. Southern California Basketball Coach BOB BOYD, 48, who in 12½ seasons has a 205-129 record, including a record of 9-5 this season. Against crosstown rival UCLA, the Trojans have lost 22 straight home games and 18 successive away games.
TRADED: By the Boston Celtics, Forward BILLY KNIGHT, 26, to the Indiana Pacers for 22-year-old Center Forward RICK ROBEY. Knight has averaged 23.7 points in four seasons in the NBA and ABA and is scoring 13.9 a game this year. Robey, a rookie from Kentucky, is averaging 8.6 points.
