■ Tennis
Pacific Life Open begins
US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo started the Pacific Life Open with easy wins on Friday, in Indian Wells, California, and former No. 1 Kim Clijsters also advanced to the third round. Kuznetsova rebounded from an opening upset loss in Dubai this month by beating Czech qualifier Eva Birnerova 6-3, 6-2 as half the 32 seeds played after first-round byes, and four seeds fell early. Eighth-seeded Elena Bovina lost to fellow Russian, qualifier Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-1, No. 9 Francesca Schiavone of Italy was upset by 153rd-ranked Rika Fujiwara of Japan 6-3, 7-6 (5), No. 16 Shinobu Asagoe of Japan fell to Clijsters 6-3, 6-3, and No. 18 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Monetenegro, who reached the Dubai final, was ousted by Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
■ Hockey
Forsberg gets concussion
Peter Forsberg will miss MoDo's next game against Farjestad in the Swedish Elite League playoffs after sustaining a slight concussion in game 4 of the quarterfinals, the team doctor said Friday. "It's a guarantee: Forsberg will miss Saturday's game," Kim Thorsen told a Swedish network television Web site. Thorsen didn't speculate how long Forsberg will be sidelined, but MoDo trails Farjestad three-games-to-one and must win Saturday or it will be eliminated. Retuning after a six-week absence due to a hand injury, Forsberg was cross-checked by Peter Nordstrom at 15:16 in the second period Thursday night at Karlstad, western Sweden. Nordstrom was ejected. Forsberg was the NHL's most valuable player with the Colorado Avalanche in 2003.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite