UPI NewsTrack Sports

Zorn to stay coach of the Redskins

ASHBURN, Va., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Washington Redskins Coach Jim Zorn will keep his job for at least the rest of the season, a team official said Friday.

Zorn has been under fire as the Redskins have started the season 2-4. Washington has lost to Detroit, Carolina and Kansas City -- teams that have just one other win between them this season -- and narrowly defeated St. Louis and Tampa Bay. Those teams haven't won this season.

Washington averaged 13 points over its first six games. After last Sunday's loss to the Chiefs, Zorn had his play-calling duties pulled and assigned to offensive consultant Sherm Lewis.

That move was seen as an attempt to force Zorn's resignation.

But Friday Redskins Executive Vice President Vinny Cerrato told an ESPN980 radio show audience, "Jim Zorn is the head coach of the Washington Redskins and will be for the rest of this season and, hopefully, into the future."

Cerrato said the organization is "very disappointed" with the season so far but he wanted to be "totally crystal clear" about Zorn's status.

Zorn is the sixth Washington coach in the 10 years since Dan Snyder bought the Redskins. Snyder hasn't commented publicly on Zorn this season.

Jankovic upset in Kremlin Cup quarters

MOSCOW, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Defending champion Jelena Jankovic dropped a quarterfinal match Friday in straight sets at the $1 million Kremlin Cup tournament in Moscow.

Jankovic's second-round victory Thursday locked up the final quarterfinals slot at the WTA's season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Qatar but she went out quickly Friday, falling 6-4, 6-3 to unseeded Alisa Kleybanova.

Kleybanova broke Jankovic's serve four times and lost only three points on serve in the second set.

Jankovic's exit leaves No. 8 Francesca Schiavone as the only seeded player left in the tournament. Schiavone took out Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. She drew Alona Bondarenko for Saturday's semifinals. Bondarenko advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Tsvetana Pironkova.

Olga Govortsova blitzed Vera Dushevina 6-3, 6-0 in 58 minutes in taking the semifinals spot against Kleybanova.

Saturday's winners are to play Sunday with the Kremlin Cup title and a first-place check of $157,427 on the line.

Wrist surgery ends Immelman's season

NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Surgery on his ailing left wrist will cause golfer Trevor Immelman to miss the balance of the 2009 PGA season.

IMG, the widely known consulting firm, said the procedure on the 2008 Masters champion was performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York Thursday by Dr. Andrew Weiland.

A severe case of tendinitis, which affected other areas, made the surgery necessary.

"I'm extremely pleased with how the surgery went," Weiland said. "I'm confident Trevor will make a full recovery in time for the 2010 season."

"Everything went as planned and I thank Dr. Weiland and his team," Immelman, a native of Cape Town, South Africa, wrote on his Twitter page Friday.

He won at Augusta in 2008 and in his career, has won six tournaments, twice on the PGA Tour and four times on the European Tour.

Witnesses threatened in Howard's stabbing

STORRS, Conn., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Campus police say witnesses to last Saturday's stabbing death of Connecticut cornerback Jasper Howard have been threatened in online postings.

Maj. Ronald Blicher told The Daily Campus, the university's student newspaper, that witnesses have been threatened with violence if they come forward with evidence in Howard's stabbing.

The 20-year-old junior from Miami was attacked early Sunday morning outside the Student Union on the Storrs campus during an altercation between two groups of people and later died.

Johnny Hood, a 21-year-old Hartford resident, has been arrested in connection with the fight, but has not been charged with Howard's stabbing.

Howard will be remembered during a moment of silence before the Huskies face West Virginia at Morgantown on Saturday. Both teams will wear No. 6 decals on their helmets in his memory.