Scott moves up 4 slots

London: Australia?s Adam Scott has climbed four spots to a career-high sixth in the world rankings following his wire-to-wire victory at the Johnnie Walker Classic in China on Sunday.

The 24-year-old, who won by three shots at Beijing?s Pine Valley Golf Resort, leapfrogged Padraig Harrington, Chris DiMarco, Sergio Garcia and David Toms in the official rankings issued on Monday.

Irishman Harrington slipped to seven, American DiMarco to eight, Spaniard Garcia to nine and 2001 US PGA champion Toms, another American, to 10.

Although there were no other changes in the world?s top 10, Vijai Singh closed the gap on top-ranked Tiger Woods with his playoff victory at the Houston Open in Texas on Sunday.

Khan to take on Athens conqueror

London: British Olympic lightweight silver medallist Amir Khan will fight his Athens conqueror Mario Kindelan of Cuba at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton on May 14.

Khan, 18, was thwarted in his bid to become the youngest Olympic boxing champion since American Floyd Patterson in 1952 when he lost 30-22 to Kindelan last August.

The fight was originally scheduled for April 30 but was postponed because of Kindelan?s commitments with the national squad.

Racial slur

Bucharest: Universitatea Craiova?s Ivory Coast defender Mariko Daouda has threatened to quit the Romanian first division club after being subjected to racist abuse.

?I?m disgusted with Romania,? Daouda said after bottom club Craiova earned their first point in six matches with a 1-1 draw at CFR Cluj.

?In Romania you are considered good or bad judging by the colour of your skin but not for what you manage to do on the pitch,? Daouda said. ?Supporters are insulting me during the games and my wife on the street.?

Warning to fans

Frankfurt: Fans risk being turned away from World Cup stadiums if they buy black market tickets that have already gone up for sale on the internet, tournament organisers warned on Monday.

The lucky winners in the draw for tickets in the first sales opportunity for next year?s finals in Germany were notified on Friday and within hours offers were being made for re-sale on the web.

Tickets will come pre-printed with fans? names and Horst R Schmidt, organising committee vice-president in charge of ticket sales, said that random checks would take place outside the grounds.

The first sales window offering 812,000 tickets was over-subscribed by 10 times. Only another 300,000 tickets will go on public sale to fans before the tournament.

Title for Roddick

Houston: Top seed Andy Roddick broke Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean twice in each set to win his third US claycourt championship title here on Sunday.

Roddick, the tournament runner-up the past two years, overwhelmed Grosjean in the third and fifth games of both sets to cruise to a 6-2, 6-2 victory. He had won the title in 2001 and 2002.

Grosjean won just 50 per cent of his service points compared to 75 per cent for Roddick. Roddick had 45 aces in four matches in claiming his 17th career title and second this year.