■ Hockey
Cop shoots India defender
Indian field hockey defender Sandeep Singh was hospitalized with a gunshot wound near his hip yesterday after a security official's revolver went off accidentally on a moving train, police said. Singh, a penalty corner expert and squad member for next month's World Cup in Germany, was taken to hospital after the incident. "He was injured in the back when the revolver of the security official accidentally went off," a police spokesman said. The official was checking over-head baggage in the train when his revolver became entangled with a seat and went off and hit the player, he added.
■ Tennis
Martina nets another title
Martina Navratilova won her 176th WTA doubles title on Monday when she and Nadia Petrova downed Cara Black and Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-1, 6-2 at the Rogers Cup. Navratilova, who turns 50 on Oct. 18, is to retire for a second time after the US Open in New York. It was a fifth doubles win for Navratilova at the Canadian event, each with a different partner. She also won in 1981, 1982, 1985 and 2004, when her partner in Toronto was Groenefeld. Navratilova and Petrova, playing together for the first time, split US$59,000. Navratilova has more than US$21 million in career earnings.
■ Rugby Union
Gregan sets playing target
Australia rugby captain George Gregan hinted yesterday he would finally be ready to hang up his boots if he leads the Wallabies at the World Cup in France next year. "To get through to next year's World Cup, that'll pretty much do me," Gregan told Channel Seven when asked about his remaining goals. Gregan was speaking after a Monday night function honoring his achievements in becoming the most capped player in Test history and Australia's most capped captain. After the function, the 33-year-old Gregan said he still had the desire to lead Australia in his fourth World Cup campaign. "I'm still loving being coached and I'm still being challenged and I do want to be there come next year," he told reporters.
■ Basketball
Randolph in police report
Police said on Monday that Portland Trail Blazers forward Zach Randolph was "involved" in a sexual assault report taken last week but is not a suspect. Sergeant Brian Schmautz, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, said detectives are interviewing potential witnesses to the incident. "The Police Bureau will now confirm that on Aug. 14, an officer took a report of a sexual assault and that the report involved Zach Randolph," Schmautz said in an e-mailed release. "However, the Police Bureau is not identifying Zach Randolph as a suspect in the criminal investigation." Randolph led the Blazers in scoring and rebounding last season, with 18 points and eight rebounds per game, as the team finished with the worst record in the NBA at 21-61.
■ Italy
Boumsong may sign for Juve
Fallen giants Juventus, who were demoted from Serie A to Italy's second division for match-fixing, are close to signing French defender Jean-Alain Boumsong from English Premiership outfit Newcastle United, according to Italian news agency ANSA on Monday. ANSA said Boumsong's agent is in Turin trying to finalize the deal for the 26-year-old France international. Boumsong, who cost Newcastle ?8.5 million (US$16 million) when they bought him from Scottish side Rangers in January last year, has been unable to command a regular place in the team.
■ Spain
Baptista wants to stay
Brazilian midfielder Julio Baptista said on Monday he had no intention of leaving Spanish giants Real Madrid despite suggestions that coach Fabio Capello wants to get rid of him. Spanish media reports had suggested that Capello wanted to use the under-performing Baptista -- known as the "beast" -- as a makeweight in a deal to bring AC Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaka to the "meringues" as he tries to put an end to bitter rivals Barcelona's recent dominance in the league and Europe. However the message from Baptista, scorer of just eight goals in 32 matches last term after his 24 million euro (US$30.9 million) transfer from a hugely successful stint at Sevilla where he'd scored 38 goals in two seasons, was he was not going anywhere.
■ England
Smith makes comeback
England striker Alan Smith declared himself happy on Monday with his comeback for the Manchester United reserves six months after suffering an horrific broken leg when playing for the first team. The 25-year-old former Leeds United star played for just over an hour in United's 7-2 thrashing of Preston, failing to score but he was still more than satisfied. "I have worked hard for that all through the summer," said Smith, who saw any hopes of making England's World Cup squad disappear when he broke his leg and dislocated his ankle against Liverpool in the FA Cup tie in February.
■ England
Forest suffer further indignity
Once proud English soccer giants Nottingham Forest slumped even further on Monday as the two-time European Cup winners were beaten 1-0 by Accrington Stanley in the first round of the League Cup. Accrington's star striker Paul Mullin was their goal hero as the 32-year-old -- five times their leading scorer in the non leagues before they recovered their league status after 44 years this season -- saw his 61st minute effort deflected into the net.
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