■ SOCCER
Tolerance exercise scrapped
Muslim and Christian leaders in Oslo scrapped a soccer match meant to foster understanding between religions on Saturday after the imams refused to play a team that included women priests. The imams said physical contact with women would be inappropriate, NRK public television said, and the Norwegian Christians refused a proposal of a male-only clash. The match was to have followed talks meant to build bridges between faiths in Norway. "Some say that bodily contact is the problem. It leads to special feelings that can lead to something forbidden," imam Senaid Kobilica told NRK public television.
■ CYCLING
Chris Horner in control
American Chris Horner pulled on the race leader's jersey following the fourth and penultimate stage of the Tour of Romandie won by Spain's Igor Anton in Geneva on Saturday. Anton, who rides for the Basque outfit Euskaltel, claimed the stage honors after 155.9km of climbing between Charmey and Morgins. Horner, of Predictor-Lotto, finished third on the stage after Anton sprinted ahead of a four-man group to beat Dutch ace Thomas Dekker, of Rabobank, Horner and promising Frenchman John Gadret of AG2r. Yesterday's final stage was a testing 20.4km time trial around Lausanne which Horner's teammate Cadel Evans -- the Australian who is the defending champion -- will be targeting after his fifth place finish on Saturday.
■ GOLF
Hoch leads in Texas
Scott Hoch moved into position for his first US Champions Tour victory, shooting a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead over D.A. Weibring into the final round of the FedEx Kinko's Classic in Lakeway, Texas. "I haven't been healthy since I came out here or I think I would have done better," said the 51-year-old Hoch, an 11-time winner on the PGA Tour. Hoch, the only player in the field without a bogey in the first two days, had an 11-under 133 total on The Hills Country Club course. D.A. Weibring was 8 under after his second straight 68.
■ SAILING
US, Italy reach semis
BMW Oracle Racing and Luna Rossa each clinched places in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals on Saturday. The US team reached the last four with a win over French team Areva Challenge in America's Cup challenger series racing. Italian syndicate Luna Rossa, which is tied for first with 31 points after winning its seventh-flight match race against +39 Challenge on the southern "Juliet" course, advanced because of tiebreakers. "We are very happy to be through to the semi-finals," BMW Oracle Racing navigator Peter Isler said.
■ TENNIS
Djokovic makes final
Novak Djokovic beat second-ranked Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-5, 6-1 Saturday to reach the final at the Estoril Open in Oeiras, Portugal, where he will play Richard Gasquet. Gasquet won his semi-final match at the clay-court event when Paul-Henri Mathieu retired while trailing 3-1. Robredo led 4-3 after breaking Djokovic, but the 20-year-old Serb broke back in the 10th game to make it 5-5 and then held serve before winning the first set after another break. Djokovic broke Robredo twice more in the second set and won the final five games. "I didn't feel very good for the start with Robredo," Djokovic said. "But after winning the first set I felt myself come back."
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