All three American men fell or stumbled and Rena Inoue hit the ice three times in her performance with John Baldwin. It was that kind of day for the United States at the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo.

Ryan Bradley was the first American to compete yesterday in the men's short program. He went to the ice on a triple axel jump and placed 19th. Evan Lysacek, the American champion for the first time, soon followed. He put his hand on the ice on his quad attempt and lost points for the combination when he waited too long for the second jump. He ended up fifth but almost 11 points behind the leader Brian Joubert of France.

Johnny Weir started with a smooth triple axel and a triple-triple combination but then stumbled on a triple flip and finished fourth entering the free skate tonight.

College football

Two Michigan players were arraigned on assault charges after police say they attacked a fellow student in a residence hall on St. Patrick's Day. Tight end Carson Butler, 19, and defensive back Christian Richards III, 19, are charged with one count of aggravated assault and one count of assault and battery. They were released on $5,000 personal bond and have a pre-trial hearing March 27.

Basketball

The United States will open qualifying for the 2008 Olympics against Venezuela in the FIBA Americas tournament Aug. 22-Sept. 2 in Las Vegas. Brazil, Canada and the U.S. Virgin Islands also were placed in the same group with the Americans in the draw.

Tennis

Amelie Mauresmo, ranked No. 4, had an appendectomy in Paris and is expected to be out a month. Mauresmo, once ranked No. 1, won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006 and hopes to return for the clay-court season.

Andy Roddick and James Blake were selected for the U.S. Davis Cup team that will face Rafael Nadal and Spain in the quarterfinals next month in Winston-Salem, N.C. Captain Patrick McEnroe also will go with the world's top-ranked doubles team of brothers Bob and Mike Bryan in the event.

The ATP Board voted to eliminate the round-robin format that led to an embarrassing flip-flop in the interpretation of results at a Las Vegas tournament earlier this month. Remaining events that had planned to try round-robin will instead revert to a single-elimination format.

Curling

The United States scored three in the 10th in a 9-5 win against Switzerland, and the Americans later advanced to the playoffs when defending champion Sweden lost to the Czech Republic at the women's world championship in Aomori, Japan. Skip Debbie McCormick's takeout with the final rock in the 10th sealed the win for the Americans, who improved to 7-3.

Horse racing

Sham Stakes winner Ravel has an injured left front leg and is off the Kentucky Derby trail. Ravel, under trainer Todd Pletcher, injured his left front cannon bone. This highly regarded colt is a son of 2000 Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus.