Briefly

Crocker beats Phelps in butterfly at World Swimming Championships

For the last two years, everyone at the pool was chasing Michael Phelps.

Now, he’s the one playing catch-up.

Phelps was soundly beaten Saturday in his final individual race of the World Swimming Championships at Montreal. Up ahead, American rival Ian Crocker broke his world record in the 100-meter butterfly.

“Every thing that has happened this week is a wake-up call,” Phelps said. “It’s all going to be used for motivation.”

Crocker turned a much-anticipated rematch with Phelps into a rout, reversing their roles at the Athens Olympics. This time, Crocker was the one celebrating a victory, while Phelps could only offer a congratulatory handshake across the ropes and settle for silver.

“It was definitely my goal to break the record,” Crocker said. “When you’re racing against Phelps, you always have to assume it’s going to take a world record to win.”

It wasn’t needed, but Crocker broke the record anyway in 50.40 seconds – easily beating his previous mark of 50.76 from last summer.

“He’s insane in a good way,” teammate Aaron Peirsol said. “It’s amazing someone so sedate can create so much power at the drop of a hat.”

Phelps finished second in 51.65.

“I haven’t trained much fly this year,” the runner-up said. “But I don’t want to use that as an excuse. That was a horrible swim for me.”

•Danilo Ikodinovic scored the go-ahead goal with 1:09 remaining, helping Serbia-Montenegro upset defending champion Hungary 8-7 for the gold medal in men’s water polo.

Fishing

Martens moves into lead

Aaron Martens moved into the lead at the Bassmaster Classic at Pittsburgh with a four-bass catch that totaled 4 pounds.

Martens is the only competitor who has caught nine regulation fish. His two-day total is 9 pounds, 1 ounce.

Michael Iaconelli moved from seventh place to second with a five-bass catch that totaled 3 pounds, 12 ounces. His two-day total is 8 pounds, 3 ounces.

“I salvaged this day,” said Iaconelli, who had to fish from a camera boat in the afternoon after burning out the motor on his boat. “It was tough to stay focused with everything that happened.”

The competition is so close that 1 pound separates the top four individuals. Kevin VanDam is third with a two-day total of 8 pounds, 2 ounces, while Jeff Reynolds has a total of 8 pounds, 1 ounce.

First-day leader Jimmy Mize dropped to 12th after failing to catch a regulation fish. He caught the limit of five bass the first day, which totaled 6 pounds, 2 ounces.

Tennis

Agassi beats Chela, will face Muller

Andre Agassi used a dazzling mix of shots to defeat Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets and move into the Mercedes-Benz Cup final at Los Angeles.

The 35-year-old Agassi, his sights set on next month’s U.S. Open, needed just 1 hour, 9 minutes to beat his 25-year-old foe from Argentina 6-4, 6-2.

The top-seeded Agassi will go for his fourth Los Angeles title today, facing unseeded Gilles Muller.

Muller, a hard-serving 22-year-old player from Luxembourg, fought back from being down two match points in the second set to upset second-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1.

•Venus Williams saved five match points in the second set and overcame her inconsistent ground game, rallying for a 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over Patty Schnyder to reach the final of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, Calif.

She will play for the championship against fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters, a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Anna-Lena Groenefeld in Saturday’s late match.

•Guillermo Coria overcame a loss in the first set and beat Filippo Volandri 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the final of the Croatia Open at Umag, Croatia.

Coria will face four-time champion Carlos Moya, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Jiri Novak, in today’s title match.

•Top-seeded Anna Smashnova defeated Croatia’s Jelena Kostanic 6-2, 6-0 and will face Colombian qualifier Catalina Castano in the final of the Budapest Grand Prix at Budapest, Hungary.

In the other semifinal, Castano beat qualifier Laura Pous Tio of Spain 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-0. Castano led 5-2 in the tiebreaker before Pous Tio rallied.

Hydroplane racing

Villwock takes lead after early races

Dave Villwock drove Ellstrom Manufacturing to an early lead in the standings at the Budweiser Columbia Cup for unlimited hydroplanes at Kennewick.

Villwock won his first preliminary heat with an average speed of 140.981 mph. He was followed by Ken Muscatel, who drove Miss Rock at 139.746 mph.

But Muscatel was stripped of his second-place points after officials said his boat exceeded the fuel-fill limit of 4.3 gallons per minute.

Steve David drove Oh Boy! Oberto to third place in the heat, with an average speed of 136.409 mph.

Villwock is the favorite to win when the final heats are held today – he also was the fastest qualifier, at 164.898 mph, just 9 mph faster than Oh Boy! Oberto.

Boxing

Hearns wins after five-year layoff

Thomas Hearns scored an eighth-round knockout of John Long in his first fight following a five-year layoff.

Long, a 35-year-old St. Louis native who last fought in June 2004, was game for eight rounds but was unable to answer the bell in the ninth at Detroit’s half-filled Cobo Arena.