In brief

Press, 22 June 1989, Page 43

In brief

Rufer hopping mad PA London The New Zealand soccer ace, Wynton Rufer, yesterday threatened to take F. C. Grasshoppers Zurich to court if the Swiss first division side does not release him. The 26-year-old striker claims that the club is demanding an “astronomical" transfer fee from one of a host of top European sides interested in signing him. But Rufer insisted that he was not under contract to Grasshoppers so that it had no right to demand a fee. “I agreed to play for Grasshoppers for only one season which has now ended,” he said from his Zurich flat yesterday, “But the club is behaving like it still owns me and trying to screw every last drop of blood." Rufer said that he would be keen to play for one of the many top European clubs, including the crack English first division side, Nottingham Forest, with whom his name has been linked. Pate crashes out NZPA-Reuter Hoylake, England The defending champion, David Pate, of the United States, crashed out in the second round of the Wirral men's grasscourt tennis championship in straight sets to West German Carl-Uwe Steeb yesterday. Pate, who has slumped to No. 147 in the world rankings following a string of poor results and was unseeded for this tournament, was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by the seventh seed, Steeb, who is ranked 115 places above him. There was no joy either for Pate’s opponent in last year’s final, Christo Van Rensburg, of South Africa. Van Rensburg, beaten by the world No. 1, Ivan Lendl, in the London grass-court championship final at Queen’s on Sunday, took the first set 6-2 against Sweden’s Peter Lundgren but then lost a second set tiebreak before surrendering 6-4 in the final set. Lewis wins 400 m NZPA-Reuter Seville, Spain Australia’s Darren Clark finished second behind the Olympic champion, Steve Lewis, of the United States, in the men’s 400 metres at an international athletics meeting in Spain yesterday. Clark was fourth behind Lewis in last year’s Seoul Games. Lewis romped home yesterday in one minute 45.37 seconds, ahead of Clark in 45.54. In other events, Jamaican Merlene Ottey and American Calvin Smith sped to victory in their respective 200-metre events. Ottey, the women’s world indoor champion, clocked 22.32 seconds while Smith, the men’s world outdoor champion, clocked his fastest time of the season to win in 20.45. The Olympic champion, Paul Ereng, of Kenya, slaughtered the field to take the men’s 800 metres in one minute 44.01 seconds. Greece crushed NZPA-Reuter Zagreb, Yugoslavia Yugoslavia crushed the reigning champion, Greece, 103-68, on the opening day of the men’s European basketball championship yesterday. It was sweet revenge for the Yugoslavs, three-times former European champions who lost to Greece in the semi-finals of the championship two years ago in Athens. Led by their two-million-dollar playmaker, Drazen Petrovic, who plays with Real Madrid, Yugoslavia took the lead in the sixth minute of the match and maintained the pressure throughout. Petrovic, who scored 35 points, inspired his team-mates in both attack and defence and Greece appeared too bewildered by Yugoslavia’s pace to create any serious challenge. Only the 32-year-old playmaker, Nikos Galis, at 1.83 metres the shortest man in the match, showed any real attacking form as he scored 30 of Greece’s points. Magee makes return NZPA-AAP Assen, Netherlands While one wounded Australian will be taking it easy in the Dutch 500 cu cm motor-cycle grand prix this week-end, another is ready for a return to top speed. Victoria’s Kevin Magee, who like his compatriot Wayne Gardner suffered severe injuries in the United States Grand Prix in April, said he expects to be “100 per cent fit” for the race. Magee has raced three times since breaking his leg and ankle in the' United States, recording improved performances at each start. 'T’ve been concentrating on building up steadily rather than expecting too much of myself early on,” Magee said. After returning to racing with a seventh in Germany, Magee has finished fifth in Austria and two weeks ago was fourth in Yugoslavia. The injuries he suffered in California cost Magee two races and he has since been troubled by a pulled arm muscle. But he is still in fifth place in the World Championship and is ready to improve on Saturday.