■ Rugby
Touring Wallabies punished
Wallaby reserve scrum-half Matt Henjak will be sent home and teammates Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor and Matt Dunning are to be fined after a nightclub incident in South Africa, the Australian Rugby Union said on Monday. Henjak admitted throwing the contents of a drink in The Pulse nightclub in Cape Town in the early hours of last Thursday, according to press reports. He also received a two-match suspended sentence and was fined A$500 (US$380). Wingers Tuqiri and Sailor received a two-year, two-match suspended sentence and were fined A$500 each. Prop forward Dunning was found to have breached team rules by "being out inappropriately late at night" and was also fined A$500. "I was just being a little bit silly -- I had a few drinks and was acting inappropriately as a Wallaby and I've put the team under more pressure than they needed to be and I've let the team down and I've realized that and I've got to gain their trust back," Henjak told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
■ Cricket
NZC commits to tour
New Zealand's controversial tour of Zimbabwe appears certain to go ahead, despite the passing of a resolution by Parliament yesterday calling on the International Cricket Council (ICC) and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to cancel the trip. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark proposed the resolution, that was carried 110-10, asking the ICC and NZC to cancel next month's tour due to concerns over human rights abuses under Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. However, NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said the resolution did not change their obligations under the ICC's Future Tours program and they would still be liable for a fine of at least US$2 million should they withdraw.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB