Ron Artest becomes Metta World Peace

THE mercurial Los Angeles Lakers forward formerly known as Ron Artest officially became Metta World Peace on Friday when a Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner approved the name change. World Peace, who will spend his off-season competing on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," was granted the change just in time for the show's season premiere on Monday night after clearing up lingering traffic ticket warrants.

Argentina, Spain close in on Davis Cup final

RAFAEL NADAL buried the disappointment of his US Open loss to put Spain within reach of the Davis Cup final Friday, but champions Serbia were facing elimination after an injury blow ruled out World No 1. Meanwhile, Nalbandian defeated Victor Troicki, who replaced Djokovic, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 before former US Open winner Juan Martin Del Potro eased past Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, his third career win over the Serb, as the South Americans also led 2-0.

Sizzling Wilson grabs a share of BMW lead

AFTER making a brilliant start to the PGA Tour season, Mark Wilson set himself up for a big finish by firing a five-under-par 66 to share the second round lead with Justin Rose at the BMW Championship on Friday.

Chan keeps lead in

Macau Open

TAIWAN'S Chan Yih-shin fired a third round three-under-par 68 at the Macau Open yesterday to stay on track for a second Asian Tour victory. Chan was tied with Joonas Granberg of Finland after 17 holes but birdied the last to take the lead with a 12-under-par 201 total at the Macau Golf and Country Club.

"Anglo-Saxon" logic bad for World Cup

FRANCE coach Marc Lievremont has blasted World Cup organisers for unfair scheduling of the World Cup's smaller nations saying they were acting out of an "anglo-saxon logic." The top Tri-Nations and Six Nations sides have been given more time to recover between games. Other "second-tier" countries such as Tonga, the United States, Canada and Georgia have found themselves with just three or four days to recover.

Hantuchova crashes out of Bell event

HANTUCHOVA was sent crashing out of the WTA Bell Challenge tournament Friday, losing 6-4, 6-4 to unseeded Kiwi Marina Erakovic. The 23-year-old Erakovic, of Auckland, is ranked 85th in the world and is gunning for her first WTA Tour title. AFP