Akebono's Sumo Victory Knocks Konishiki From Champion's Ranking

Konishiki, sumo's heftiest competitor at 581 pounds, will be dropped from the champion's rank he held for six years after losing today to Akebono, a fellow Hawaiian who replaced him as the leading American in the Japanese sport.

Akebono, a yokozuna or grand champion whose real name is Chad Rowan, protected his lead in the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament by beating Konishiki and raising his tournament record to 12-1.

The loss was the eighth in 13 matches for Konishiki, whose real name is Salevaa Fuauli Atisanoe. It assures he will have losing records in two straight tournaments, which brings automatic demotion.

Hockey

Team USA, taking advantage of a high-sticking penalty against Sweden's Espen Knutsen, turned a 2-1 defict into a 4-2 lead in the next five minutes and went on to win 10-5 at the Telehockey Cup pre-Olympic tournament in Lillehammer, Norway. The win was Team USA's first in the tournament, after two losses.

Golf

Heather Farr, the LPGA golfer who underwent surgery three times in a week to stop brain hemorrhaging, remained in critical condition after suffering seizures early yesterday in Scottsdale, Ariz., her surgeon said. Farr, 28, has fought breast cancer and other ailments since 1989.

-- Danielle Ammaccapane, who won the 1991 invitational pro-am in Scottsdale, Ariz., and finished second last year, played five holes in 15 shots yesterday and finished with a course-record, 4-under-par 67.

-- Tom Watson holed out from 96 yards away with a sand wedge for an eagle on the par-4 16th hole and added a birdie on No. 18 to maintain a one-stroke lead after today's second round of a $1,869,000 tournament in Miyazaki, Japan. Larry Mize had the best round, a 68. Watson and Fred Couples were among those shooting 69. Watson's two-round score is 10-under 134.

Tennis

Martina Navratilova, playing in a tournament she won four times and facing an opponent less than half her age, lost to Mary Pierce 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Virginia Slims Championships of New York. Pierce will meet the winner of tonight's match between No. 2 seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and No. 7 Jana Novotna.

Meanwhile, top-seeded Steffi Graf beat Amanda Coetzer 6-1, 6-2 to grab a semifinal berth against the winner of tonight's match between No. 4 Conchita Martinez and No. 8 Anke Huber.

Courts

Permian High School of Odessa, Texas, forfeited its district title and chance to win a seventh Class 5A state championship when U.S. District Judge Harry Lee Hudspeth of El Paso agreed that the school had used an ineligible player. The school had followed longstanding district policy in allowing a transfer student to play, but the policy conflicted with a league rule.

-- Four starting players for the Plano, Texas, high-school football team and seven others were indicted on misdemeanor riot charges stemming from a fight among rival students that lasted a weekend.

Boxing

Johnny Nelson, a former WBF cruiserweight champion from England, scored a unanimous decision over New Zealand's Jimmy Thunder today in Auckland, New Zealand, to capture the WBF heavyweight title.