■ Handball
Norway retain European title
Kari Mette Johansen scored nine goals on Sunday to lead Norway to a 27-24 win over Russia in the final of the women's European Handball Championship. Norway, the defending champions, led 16-12 at halftime. Kristine Lunde and Marianna Rokne added four goals each for the winners. Irina Poltoratskaia led Russia -- the reigning world champions -- with six goals. France beat Germany 29-25 with seven goals from Angelique Spincer in the bronze-medal game.
■ Soccer
Colombia bid for World Cup
Colombia was due to formally express its desire to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup yesterday. Colombia will present a letter of intent to FIFA and also will confirm its desire to host the tournament at a meeting tomorrow of the South American confederation, Luis Bedoya, president of the Colombian soccer federation, said on Sunday. In July, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said he wanted the country to host the quadrennial championship. "The country can do it and can do it well," he said during a speech to inaugurate the Central America and Caribbean Games in Cartagena. Colombia was chosen as the host for the 1986 World Cup, but withdrew due to financial problems in 1982.
■ Belgium
Henin-Hardenne wins again
Justine Henin-Hardenne was voted Belgian sportswoman of the year on Sunday, her third title in the last four years. Henin-Hardenne, 24, won the French Open, and returned from injury to take the WTA Championship and finish with the No. 1 ranking last month. She reached the final of every Grand Slam this year, losing in Australia, at Wimbledon and in the US. Henin-Hardenne also was part of the Fed Cup team which reached this year's final, only to lose to Italy when she injured herself in the deciding match.
■ Germany
Soccer heroes team of year
The German national soccer team was selected as the country's team of the year on Sunday in voting by the country's sports journalists. Finishing third at the World Cup in June and July, Die Mannschaft received 4,165 votes with the field hockey world champions taking second with 2,919. Biathletes Michael Greis and Kati Wilhelm won the men's and women's individual honors. Greis won three golds at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and became the first male biathlete to win the honor in 60 years of voting. He received 3,126 votes, with Formula One runner-up Michael Schumacher second with 1,645. Wilhelm won a gold and two silvers at the Winter Games and was the overall World Cup champion. She won with 3,363 votes.
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