World Sports in brief

Sweden's Hjorth makes her move

Sweden's Maria Hjorth moved into pole position alongside Lee Jee-Young of South Korea after the second round of the inaugural Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia on Saturday. The players are tied on 136, six-under-par and a stroke ahead of the field moving into Sunday's final round. It was a mixed day for Hjorth, a three-time winner on the LPGA Tour.

Azarenka to meet Kirilenko in final

Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus reached her fourth final of the season here on Saturday, defeating Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the semi-finals of the WTA Kremlin Cup. The 21-year-old second seed won comfortably 6-3, 6-3 in one hour 16 minutes to record her first win over Sanchez in what was their third head-to-head meeting.

Federer German streak favours final

Top seed Roger Federer carries a 35-match win streak against Germans into his Sunday final at the Stockholm Open when he faces what will surely be a nervous challenge from Florian Mayer. The powerful Swiss number two put himself into position for a 64th trophy as he defeated longtime rival Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in their semi-final.

Laird takes lead in Las Vegasx

Defending champion Martin Laird fired an eight-under par 63 on Saturday to seize a one-shot lead over Jonathan Byrd in the US PGA Tour's Shriners Hospital Open.

Scotland's Laird drained an eight-foot eagle putt at the par-four 15th after driving the green on the 310-yard hole.