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BRIEFLY

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Monday, August 20, 2012

Wolves tamed

LONDON - Leeds United kicked off their bid for promotion to the English Premier League with a confidence-boosting 1-0 win against relegated Wolves on the opening weekend of the Championship season on Saturday. Argentine striker Luciano Becchio's 18th-minute diving header at Elland Road sealed a deserved victory for United, whose manager Neil Warnock is looking for his eighth career promotion.

Berlin shocker

BERLIN - Lower-league Berliner AK humiliated Bundesliga club Hoffenheim 4-0 in a major first-round upset in the German Cup on Saturday, while holders Borussia Dortmund advanced comfortably. Metin Cakmak got a double, with Justin Gerlach and Kevin Kruschke also on target in what reportedly was the biggest win of a fourth division side against a top flight club in competition history.

In control

PARIS - Bafetimbi Gomis scored a double as Lyon moved top of Ligue 1 with a 4-1 home win against promoted Troyes on Saturday as champions Montpellier fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at Lorient. Montpellier had led until the dying minutes after Emanuel Herrera's 37th-minute opener but late strikes from Alain Traore and Jeremy Aliadiere gave the Brittany outfit their first win of the season.

Jonny stars

PARIS - Jonny Wilkinson kicked all of Toulon's points in a 21-15 Top 14 win over 2009 champions Perpignan on Saturday as the English veteran shrugged off the hype over the return to France of Frederic Michalak. Wilkinson enjoyed a 100-percent success rate with the boot as did rival fly-half, Welsh international James Hook in an untidy season-opener which saw 29 penalties awarded in a frustrating stop-start encounter.

La Liga record

MADRID - Sixteen-year-old Fabrice Olinga made history on Saturday when he became the youngest ever player to score in La Liga, grabbing the only goal as Malaga clinched a 1-0 victory at promoted Celta Vigo. The Cameroon-born forward came on as a 58th-minute substitute to make his league debut and got the 84th-minute winner as the new season got under way. At only 16 years and 98 days, Olinga is 191 days younger than Athletic Bilbao player Iker Muniain who held the previous record.

Showdown

CINCINNATI, Ohio - World No.1 Roger Federer and world No.2 Novak Djokovic booked a showdown in Sunday's final at the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters with straight-set semi-final triumphs on Saturday. Top seed Federer beat Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, while Djokovic, who quit last year's final against Andy Murray with a shoulder problem, advanced by defeating Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3 6-2.

LPGA lead

NORTH PLAINS, Oregon - Japan's Mika Miyazato, seeking her first LPGA title, fired a four-under par 68 on Saturday to seize a two-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA tour event in Oregon.