Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Kuchar leads by two shots at Riviera as Woods falls nine behind

Matt Kuchar was not at his best but did enough to maintain the lead in the second round at the Genesis Open on Friday, as Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott loomed large in the rear view mirror in perfect winter conditions in southern California. On a day when tournament host Tiger Woods frittered away several shots with some poor wedge play and fell nine shots from the lead, Kuchar compiled a respectable two-under-par 69 at Riviera in Los Angeles.

Tennis: Clijsters to take on Bertens in Dubai comeback

Former world number one Kim Clijsters will return to professional tennis for the first time in seven years at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday - but she has been handed a tough first round match-up. The 36-year-old, who won four Grand Slam titles but last played in 2012 at the U.S. Open, has been drawn against sixth seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands after being given a wildcard entry.

Qualifier Kung continues dream run to reach Thailand Open final

Swiss qualifier Leonie Kung extended her dream run in the Thailand Open on Saturday, stunning Nao Hibino in the semi-final to set up a title clash with fifth seed Magda Linette in only her second main-draw appearance at a WTA event. A day after knocking out world number 27 Wang Qiang, Kung showed character to beat her Japanese opponent 7-5 4-6 6-3.

Duplantis soars again to break own pole vault world record

American-born Swede Armand "Mondo" Duplantis soared to another pole vault world record on Saturday as he easily cleared 6.18 meters at the World Athletics Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix. The 20-year-old, a world silver medalist, had set the previous mark last Saturday by clearing 6.17m in Torun, Poland. That eclipsed by 1 cm Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie's record set in February 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine.

NHL roundup: Surging Rangers win 4th straight

Chris Kreider scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:11 remaining in the third period and the New York Rangers beat the host Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Friday night. The Rangers won their season-high fourth straight game and won for the fifth time in six games thanks to Kreider, who scored his seventh goal in the last nine games.

Man City's appeal may focus heavily on process of UEFA probe

Facing a costly and damaging two-season ban from European football, English champions Manchester City will now turn to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an appeal that is likely to focus heavily on procedure. The Premier League club's key players on the pitch may be the likes of Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne, but off it their line-up of British and Swiss lawyers will also be in focus as they fight to get the ban overturned.

Bertens sets up clash with Rybakina in St Petersburg final

Holder Kiki Bertens battled past Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1 4-6 6-1 in the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy semi-finals on Saturday to set up a title clash with Elena Rybakina. The world number eight dominated the first set before losing the second to an inspired Alexandrova, but found her rhythm in the decider where she lost only three points on her serve to close out the victory.

Coleman sprints to season's fastest 60 meters at U.S. champs

World record holder Christian Coleman overcame a sluggish start to run the season's fastest 60m in the preliminaries of the U.S. championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday. Coleman, the Tokyo Olympic 100 meters favorite as the world champion, went on to win comfortably in 6.48 seconds despite easing up early in his first meeting of the season.

Tokyo 2020 holds torch relay rehearsal

Japanese actress Satomi Ishihara performed the first 'torch kiss' handover of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay on Saturday during a rehearsal on the outskirts of the capital. Ishihara's handover in Hamura City formed part of a dress rehearsal for Tokyo 2020 organizers, who mimicked three legs of the relay that will last for 121 days in the build up to the Olympics that begin on July 24.

Browns' Garrett reiterates Rudolph used racial slur

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett reiterated this week that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph directed a racial slur at him prior to the melee at the end of the game between the teams in November. "He called me the N-word," Garrett told ESPN reporter Mina Kimes in an interview on Outside the Lines that aired Thursday. "He called me a 'stupid N-word.'"