Tennis

Cook reaches Carson quarterfinals

Lester Cook, a former Men's Open champion at The Ojai, defeated Samuel Groth 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the third round at the Countrywide Classic USTA Challenger at Carson on Thursday.

Cook will face Ramon Delgado of Paraguay in the quarterfinals today.

Earlier in the tournament, Groth had defeated No. 1 seed Robert Kendrick.

auo racing

Sadler signs extension with Gillett Evernham

Elliott Sadler and Gillett Evernham Motorsports agreed to a multiyear contract extension that will keep the Sprint Cup driver in the No. 19 Dodge.

"This is the place where I want to race," Sadler said. "I think what we are building here is special and something other drivers and crew members envy."

The 33-year-old Sadler joined Gillett Evernham Racing in 2006 and has three victories in 333 Cup Series starts, with 16 top-five finishes and 57 top-10s. He last victory came Sept. 5, 2004, at Fontana.

pro football

Tickets for London game selling quickly

Five months before the Saints and Chargers kick off at Wembley Stadium, tickets already are going fast.

The first 40,000 tickets made available for the NFL's second overseas regular-season game were sold in 90 minutes. The game will be Oct. 26, a Saints home game.

Because of the demand, the NFL released an additional 5,000 to go on sale immediately.

The NFL will play at least one game in the United Kingdom for each of the next three seasons.

soccer

Overseers allow Iraq to resume Cup bid

Soccer's governing body lifted its international ban on Iraq to keep alive the World Cup qualifying hopes of a team that represents a rare symbol of national unity amid war and sectarian rivalries.

Iraq was suspended by FIFA, the sport's overseers, on Tuesday after Iraq's government dissolved the national Olympic Committee and all sports federations. FIFA said the Iraqi move amounted to political interference into the autonomy of the sports organizations.

It was a huge blow in Iraq, where the national soccer team's Asian Cup championship last year brought street parties and an outpouring of national pride that — for a moment at least — united Iraq's Sunnis, Shiite and Kurds.

Mancini fired by Inter: Coach Roberto Mancini was fired by Internazionale of Milan less than two weeks after the club won its third straight Italian League title.

Inter said it was upset with comments Mancini made after it lost to Liverpool in the European Champions League quarterfinals. The coach announced then he would resign at the end of the season, but he changed his mind a few days later.

Former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho appears to be the leading candidate to replace Mancini, who in turn has been linked with Chelsea, which fired coach Avram Grant last weekend.

high schools

SoCal football player dies after practice

A high school football player is dead after collapsing during practice in Southern California.

Irvine police Lt. Rick Handfield says 15-year-old Dylan Bradshaw apparently had an asthma attack during junior varsity practice Wednesday at Northwood High in Irvine. A trainer took Bradshaw to the locker room, where he went into cardiac arrest.

The trainer administered CPR and Bradshaw was in critical condition when he was taken to a hospital. He died there, about 90 minutes after collapsing.