UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Friday, August 23, 1996 7B U.S. Open redraws seeds Sampras,Agassi could meet again The Associated Press NEW YORK — reacting to a wave of player criticism and the threat of a boycott, the U.S. Tennis Association yesterday remade the men's draw for the U.S. Open. Two-time champion Stefan Edberg still got a tough first-round match, and the changes could result in top-seeded Pete Sampras and No. 6 Andre Agassi meeting in the title match for the second straight year. "We are responding mostly to the players," said Les Snyder, president and chief executive officer of the USTA. "The main idea is we must do what we feel is best for tennis and what is best for the U.S. Open." The draw for the 128-player men's field originally — without the 16 seeds — was made Tuesday night. The next morning, the seeds were announced during a ceremony at a Manhattan restaurant. The U.S. Open then proceeded to place the seeds in the draw by selecting names from a cup. In naming the seeds, the U.S. Open made three changes from the ATP Tour rankings, which only the four Grand Slam tournaments are allowed to do. Third-ranked Michael Chang of Henderson, Nev., was seeded second; second-ranked Thomas Muster of Austria was seeded third. Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, ranked fourth in the world, dropped to seventh in the seeding. With No. 5 Boris Becker out of the tournament with a wrist injury, sixth-ranked Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia moved to fourth in the seedings. No. 7 Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands to fifth and No. 8 Andre Agassi of Las Vegas to sixth. But the fact that the bulk of the draw was made before the 16 top players were seeded brought howls of protest. "It is an insult to the players, to the ATP rankings and to the game of tennis the way the draw was made for the U.S. Open," Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine said at a tournament in Commack, N.Y., before learning of the new draw. "Wimbledon has an unusual seeding system, but it's fair. They list the seedings before they make the draw. The U.S. Open draw was made before they made the seedings." "I don't think we can allow that to happen. When it happens once, then the Australian Open will do the same for Australians, the French Open for the French. ... I believe if they don't change it, we should not play." Snyder said he had not been told by a player of a threatened boycott. Paul Settles, an ATP Tour manager, said that the main draw was made before announcement of the seeds and that it was not made in a public ceremony accounted for the strong player reaction. "I'm sure all of us wish it hadn't occurred," Snyder said. "The integrity of this tournament is the most important thing." With the new draw, Agassi drops down to the bottom half, where he could play Chang in a semifinal. In the first draw, he could have met Sampras in the penultimate men's match. Agassi now will play Mauricio Hadad of Colombia in the first round. Adrian Voinea of Romania replaces David Rikl of the Czech Republic as the first-round foe of Sampras, who is seeking his fourth U.S. Open title. Rikl now faces Hicham Arazi of Morocco. Edberg, playing in his final Grand Slam tournament before retiring, didn't fare well in either draw. Originally scheduled to play eighth-seeded Jim Courier in the first round, Edberg now will meet Wimbledon champion Richard Krajčić of the Netherlands. Juniors knock ball out of park Final World Series game is tomorrow The Associated Press The Rhode Islanders (2-2) will play either Taiwan or the Dominican Republic in tomorrow's final. Those teams played last last night. Cranston became only the third eastern U.S. team in the last 21 years to advance to the series final and the first since Shippensburg, Pa., lost to Taiwan 9-0 in 1990. WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Craig Stinson homered and Brett Bell struck out seven batters as Cranston, R.I., beat Panama City, Fla., 6-3, yesterday to advance to the championship game of the Little League World Series. Cranston batted around and scored five runs in the third inning on Stinson's solo home run, Brett Bell's bases-loaded double and two errors on Panama City pitcher Mark Sauls. He threw wildly to third on a grounder, could not field a bunt, threw a wild pitch and walked two batters in the inning. Lucas Ashton doubled for Cranston in the fourth and scored on the third of Sauls' four wild pitches. Sauls' father and coach, Dennis Sauls, then replaced him with Clete Thomas. Sauls struck out 12 on Monday in a victory over Moorpark, Calif. Chris Sison, who batted .750 in the series, tripled in the second and scored on Jeff Boutwell's single for Panama City (3-1). In the fourth, Boutwell walked and scored on Ryan Harris' double, and Harris score on Heath Anderson's single. Eighty-one-pound reserve Drew McQuagge, pinch-running for 165-pound Florida infielder Josh Cooper, hesitated between second and third bases in the fifth inning and was thrown out by shortstop Sauls following Sison's single to deep center. Sison reached third on two wild pitches, but Bell struck out Bouttown to end the inning. Cranston this year became the first team to advance to the series semifinal with a losing record. It won its opener, then lost two in a row, including Panama City's 8-6 win Tuesday, but advanced because it gave up the fewest runs per inning of the three U.S. teams that were 1-2. 841-PLAY 1029 Massachusetts We Buy, Sell, Trade & Consign USED & New Sports Equipment Shop Kansan Classiffeds SHOWTIMES FOR TODAY ONLY Thurs: 4 'till midnight Fri: 2 'till midnight Sat: 2 'till midnight Sun: 2 'till 9 $25 a jump - 150 feet tall! 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