■ Football
Vick indicted over dogs
NFL star Michael Vick was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday on charges of sponsoring a dogfighting operation so grisly the losers either died in the pit or sometimes were electrocuted, drowned, hanged or shot. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback and three others were charged with competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting and conducting the enterprise across state lines. The operation was named "Bad Newz Kennels," according to the indictment, and the dogs were housed, trained and fought at a property owned by Vick in Surry County, Virginia.
■ Golf
Monty worries bookies
Colin Montgomerie has only seriously challenged to win the claret jug once, but the combination of his victory two weeks ago in Ireland and the British Open which starts at Carnoustie in his native Scotland today has bookmakers nervous. William Hill has lowered his odds to 25-to-1, but the number of bets placed on Montgomerie to win has been so large that bookmakers say the betting turnover would be more than US$50 million. The second worst-case-scenario for the bookmakers would be Luke Donald winning. The bookmakers say Phil Mickelson, who lost the Scottish Open in a playoff, was not getting much action at 14-to-1. Woods remained the favorite at 3-to-1, followed by Ernie Els at 12-to-1.
■ Rugby Union
'Boks ponder Zulu war dance
The Springboks are considering matching the All Blacks' haka at the rugby World Cup with a Zulu war dance they haven't used in 80 years. South Africa coach Jake White told the Star newspaper he has talked with national officials about reproducing the Zulu dance to answer the famed challenge New Zealand rugby teams have been performing before games for almost 120 years. "The history books show that the 1926 Springboks performed a Zulu war dance in major matches on their tour," White said. "New Zealand have come up with a new haka recently and, quite honestly, I would like to use ours as a challenge to them. We have done this challenge before in our team room in the four years since I have been involved as coach, but it hasn't really taken off as an idea to do it in public. Not yet, anyway," he said. "All I am saying is that maybe it is time we revived a genuine tradition from the past of South African rugby when we performed a Zulu war dance. This is no gimmick -- it is a part of our rugby history and tradition," White said.
■ Sumo
Hakuho in three-way lead
Newly promoted grand champion Hakuho yesterday bounced back from a loss the previous day and compatriot Asashoryu defeated early front-runner Kotomitsuki to set up a three-way lead at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament. Hakuho quickly sent Ama sprawling to the dirt with an onslaught of powerful pushes at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. Hakuho improved to 10-1, while Ama fell to 3-8. Grand champion Asashoryu, who is gunning for his 21st Emperor's Cup, dispatched Kotomitsuki, grabbing the sekiwake's belt with both hands and throwing him onto the ground. Asahoryu, Kotomitsuki and Hakuho now lead the tournament with one loss each. Bulgarian Kotooshu got hold of rank-and-filer Miyabiyama by the back of his head and pushed him onto the dirt, improving to 7-4. Miyabiyama fell to 5-6. Ozeki Kaio survived an onslaught from Homasho, drawing back from his barrage of thrusts and pushing him down onto the dirt.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two