Sports briefs

Last update: November 11, 2008 - 12:37 AM

BASKETBALL

No. 8 Duke opens with a rout at home

Kyle Singler scored 12 of his 19 points during the decisive first half, and No. 8 Duke opened its season by routing Presbyterian 80-49 in the first round of the 2K Sports Classic in Durham, N.C.

Duke will face Georgia Southern, which beat Houston 65-63, tonight with a semifinal berth at Madison Square Garden on the line.

• Freshman point guard Daniel West has been ruled academically ineligible to play for 14th-ranked Tennessee this season. West was expected to share time at the point with junior college transfer Bobby Maze and J.P. Prince.

HOCKEY

Hall of Fame gets four new members

Igor Larionov, one of the best players in the world for the dominant teams of the former Soviet Union, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday as part of the 2008 class that also included longtime Oilers winger Glenn Anderson, linesman Ray Scapinello and late junior hockey builder Ed Chynoweth.

"I never even knew about the Hall of Fame at that time, in the '80s," Larionov, 47, said. "I was drafted by the Canucks in '85 and I just found out about it in '87. I knew [about] the National Hockey League because I played the Canada Cups and the Super Series against NHL teams. ...

"Talking about the Hall of Fame, I had no imagination 28 years ago to even think today I would be talking to you guys."

Larionov, whose career with the Canucks began when he was 29, played 14 seasons in the NHL, winning three Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings.

TENNIS

Federer optimistic despite opening loss

It wasn't hard for Roger Federer to find a silver lining in his Masters Cup loss in Shanghai. The aching back that forced him to withdraw from the Paris Masters 10 days ago was fine, and he still has a shot to win the season-ending event for the top eight players on the men's tennis tour.

"I'm definitely in a more positive mind-set today just because my back feels good," the second-ranked Federer said after losing to Gilles Simon of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 Monday.

In the other Red Group match, Andy Murray of Britain beat Andy Roddick of the United States 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.

• No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal will miss Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina because of a knee injury. Nadal said Monday he was still struggling with tendinitis in his right knee following a week of treatment. Spain team doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said Nadal would need three to six weeks to recover.

GOLF

Dye, five others enter world hall

Pete Dye, who designed more than 120 courses, was among six people inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla.. The 2008 class featured an amateur, an architect and an author, along with three major champions.

Craig Wood was the only player elected through the PGA Tour ballot. Three-time major champion Denny Shute and Bob Charles, the first lefthander to win a major, got in through the Veteran's category.

Carole Semple Thompson, an amateur who won seven USGA championship and took part in 14 Curtis Cup matches; and Herbert Warren Wind, the writer who famously described a three-hole stretch at Augusta National as "Amen Corner," were selected through the Lifetime Achievement category. They brought membership in the Hall of Fame to 126.

ASSOCIATED PRESS