21.   Mika Hakkinen bolstered his Formula One championship hopes when he posted by far the fastest time in free practice Friday for the Luxembourg Grand Prix.

22.   Once again, the Utah Jazz have placed their National Basketball Association championship hopes on the chiseled shoulders of Karl Malone.

23.   She entered the race with championship hopes, winning five of six starts with victories over Beautiful Pleasure, Lu Ravi and Silverbulletday this year.

24.   The second-ranked Miami Hurricanes had to wait a day to find out the fate of their national championship hopes.

25.   Hill simply gave him a thumbs up sign and watched his championship hopes vanish into the distance.

26.   Damon Hill in a Williams-Renault firmly put his world championship hopes back on track when he won the San Marino grand prix here on Sunday.

27.   Colin McRae kept his world rally championship hopes on course as he fought his way back in the RAC Rally after a double setback here on Monday.

28.   Cragnotti had been criticial of Zeman when their championship hopes faded for good, but now says he is pleased Zeaman will be with Lazio for another year.

29.   Spanish leaders Real Madrid and Italian frontrunners Juventus kept championship hopes alive at weekend while Nantes looked invincible in France.