* At the 2006 IIHF world hockey championship that started May 5 in Latvia (through May 21):
Qualifying Group F winner Russia will play the Czech Republic, which finished in fourth place in Group E, in the quarterfinals May 18.
Results and Group final standings:
Group E:
Czech Republic - U.S. - 1:3
Latvia - Norway - 4:2
1 Canada - games-5/ points-8/ goal difference +18
2 Finland - 5/7/+10
3 U.S. - 5/6/+1
4 Czech Republic - 5/6/+2
5 Latvia - 5/3/-16
6 Norway - 5/0/-15
Group F:
Switzerland - Belarus - 1:2
Ukraine - Slovakia - 0:8
1 Russia - 5/9/+11
2 Sweden - 5/6/+2
3 Belarus - 5/6/+6
4 Slovakia - 5/5/+9
5 Switzerland - 5/4/-3
6 Ukraine - 5/0/-25
The quarterfinal schedule:
May 17
Sweden - U.S.
Canada - Slovakia
May 18
Russia - Czech Republic
Finland - Belarus
* At the $2.67-mln ATP Masters Series tennis tournament in Hamburg, Germany
- Nikolai Davydenko cruised into the singles third round by defeating Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-1, 6-2
* At the $1.34-mln Internazionali d'Italia WTA tennis tournament in Rome, Italy (through May 21)
Singles:
- Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded No. 7 for the tournament, cruised into the third round, beating Anna Smashnova of Israel 6-1, 6-3
- Dinara Safina (16) beat Laura Pous Tio of Spain 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the second round
- Anna Chakvetadze failed to advance to the second round when she retired due to injury in the third set against Akiko Morigami of Japan
Doubles:
- Yelena Likhovtseva and Anastasiya Myskina lost to Nathalie Dechy of France and Ana Lena Groenefeld of Germany in the first round 6-3, 1-6, 6-7