Singh Still in Charge After a 68

Chris DiMarco shot Friday’s best round, a seven-under-par 65, and put some pressure on leader Vijay Singh, who followed up his opening-round 64 with a 68 at the 84 Lumber Classic in Farmington, Pa.

Singh, who is at 12-under 132, leads Ben Curtis by two shots with DiMarco another stroke back. Curtis shot a 67.

Singh had a bogey -- his only one in two days -- but opened with two straight birdies and had three more during a round that could have been even better if he hadn’t missed several short putts.

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Juli Inkster shot a five-under 66 and took a one-stroke lead over Christina Kim after two rounds of the LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge at Auburn, Calif.

Inkster was at 10-under 132 after her seven-birdie, two-bogey round. Kim, who had a one-stroke lead after an opening 64, began her second-round 69 with 13 pars, bogeyed 14 and then birdied three of the final four holes.

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Craig Stadler shot a seven-under 65 to take a two-shot lead over defending champion D.A. Weibring and Wayne Levi after the first round of the SAS Championship at Cary, N.C. A bogey at No. 6 dropped Stadler to one over, but he made a 40-foot putt for an eagle on the par-five seventh.

Tennis

Top-seeded Serena Williams and third-seeded Maria Sharapova advanced to the semifinals of the China Open in Beijing when their opponents had to stop playing because of ankle injuries. Williams will play fourth-seeded Vera Zvonareva, and Sharapova will play second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Motor Racing

Jeremy Mayfield won the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series MBNA America 400 at Dover International Speedway. He had a fast lap of 159.405 mph in his Dodge. Ryan Newman qualified second in a Dodge with a fast lap of 159.018.

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Kasey Kahne set a NASCAR Busch Series qualifying record by winning the pole for today’s Stacker 200 at Dover International Speedway. He had a fast lap of 157.350 mph in a Dodge, shattering Joe Nemechek’s year-old track record of 156.747.

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Patrick Carpentier, coming off his first victory of the Champ Car World Series season, won his first pole of the year with a 206.186-mph run in his Ford-Cosworth/Lola for tonight’s Bridgestone 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Miscellany

International gymnastics officials are considering rule changes they hope will prevent another debacle like the one at the Athens Olympics that, a month later, still has Paul Hamm defending his all-around gold medal.

The International Gymnastics Federation said it would recommend that judges who make mistakes be punished immediately, with sanctions lasting up to four years. And USA Gymnastics is proposing the use of video replay in the review of start values.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, is expected to hear the case Monday to determine whether Hamm keeps his gold medal or whether it should go to South Korean Yang Tae Young because of the judging mistakes at Athens.

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Vancouver Canuck captain Markus Naslund changed his mind about playing for a Swedish club during the NHL lockout and will return to Vancouver to train with teammates. The forward had been set to play for MoDo in Stockholm.

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NBA Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy, facing a trial on charges of sexually abusing five of his daughters more than 10 years ago, will not broadcast Houston Rocket games this season. The Rockets have not ruled out Murphy’s returning next season if he’s cleared of all charges.

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Cyclist Joseph D’Antoni of Raleigh, N.C., has been suspended for two years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for a hormone that increases aerobic power. D’Antoni, 27, tested positive for erythropoietin Feb. 26 during the Track World Cup qualifier in Cooper City, Fla.

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French cyclist Richard Virenque, 34, announced his retirement. He won a record seventh title this year as the top mountain climber in the Tour de France. His best overall finish in the event was second in 1997.

Passings

Billy Reay, who played on two Stanley Cup champions with Montreal and became the winningest coach in Chicago Blackhawk history, died at 86 in Madison, Wis.