In brief - 2004-05-06

Estonia's Formula-3 driver Marko Asmer came fourth and sixth in two races held at the Croft circuit in England. Brazil's Danilo Dirani won both races. After six stages Dirani and Nelson Piquet Jr. are first in the overall standings with 52 points. Asmer is eighth with 24 points. The next races are scheduled for May 16 at the Knockhill circuit.

Estonian grand master Jaan Ehlvest (FIDE ranking 2596) got 7.5 points out of 10 at the Decameron Open international chess contest held in the Dominican Republic from April 23 to 30 and shared second and third place with Thomas Luther (2577) of Germany. Hikaru Nakamura (2580) from the U.S.A. won the contest with 8 points.

Ronnie O' Sullivan won the Snooker Embassy World Championship in Sheffield, England, on May 3 with a comfortable 18-8 win against Graeme Dott. Dott took a surprise 5-0 lead at the start of play, but "The Rocket," as the popular Londoner is known, quickly reasserted himself and dominated the game from then on. O'Sullivan dedicated the 250,000-pound prize to his father, who is serving a life sentence in prison for murder. O' Sullivan last won the world title in 2001.

American, British and Israeli athletes are to be given 24-hour armed guards to protect them against potential terrorist attacks during the Athens Olympic Games. The Greek government is staging an unprecedented security operation at an estimated cost of 1 billion euros. The guards will travel on athletes' buses, which will also be protected by armored vehicles and police helicopters. Athletes from other countries with troops in Iraq may also receive protection.

David Beckham came top in a list of the world's richest soccer stars published in France Football magazine, earning an estimated 15 million pounds through his Real Madrid salary and commercial endorsements. Real Madrid's Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane came second and third respectively. Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson was the highest paid manager in soccer, earning a whopping 5.8 million pounds. The list is sure to attract criticism at a time when over inflated wages are having a serious impact on the health of the game.