Sunday's sports briefs

Worlds end with 18 records American Ryan Lochte led the way as the short-course swimming world championships ended Sunday in Manchester, England, with six more world records, bringing the total for the meet to 18 overall.

Lochte set four marks and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe established three at the last major international meet before the Beijing Olympics.

All but one of the records were set by athletes wearing the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit, which has also been worn in 18 of the 19 long-course world-record-setting performances since it was introduced in February. The space-age suit -- which was designed with the help of NASA -- supposedly makes swimmers go up to 2 percent faster.

On Sunday, Lochte improved on his own 100-meter individual medley record. He finished in 51.15 seconds, shaving 0.10 off his previous mark. He finished with four gold medals and two silvers.

Sharapova wins first clay-court title Russia's Maria Sharapova won the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Fla., for her first clay court title. Sharapova overcame five double-faults and 33 unforced errors to beat Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (7), 6-3. Sharapova became the first player on the WTA Tour to win three times in 2008. She also won the Australian Open and at Doha.

Lel wins third London; American fifth Martin Lel won his third London Marathon in four years with a course-record time of 2:05:15. American Ryan Hall was among a group at world-record pace until the last 6 miles, when they were slowed by rain. Hall, 25, is aiming for a place on the podium in Beijing after shaving just over two minutes from his personal-best time Sunday. Hall's fifth-place time of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 17 seconds is the third-fastest by an American.

• William Kipsang set a course record in winning the Rotterdam Marathon, leading a 1-2-3 Kenyan sweep. Kipsang won in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 49 seconds.

ManU nears Premier League title Owen Hargreaves' free kick in the 72nd minute gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory over Arsenal, putting his team closer to the Premier League title while moving Arsenal virtually out of contention. United's 25th victory gave the club 80 points from 34 games and a six-point advantage over Chelsea.

• Jeff Cunningham beat Los Angeles goalie Steve Cronin in the 88th minute to give Toronto FC a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy in Carson, Calif.

Curling: Kevin Martin ended his long wait for a world title, guiding Canada to a 6-3 victory over Scotland in the World Men's Curling Championship in Grand Forks, N.D. Martin, 41, finished second in 1991 and fourth in 1997

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