■ Rugby Union
Ex-player subdues man
A former international rugby player was among passengers who helped to subdue a man who became violent during a domestic flight yesterday, New Zealand police said. The 42-year-old man apparently became agitated because he failed to take his medication and attacked a nearby passenger as the flight from Auckland came in to land at Wellington, Sergeant Roly Gascoine said. Other passengers, including former New Zealand All Black Ofisa Tonu'u, restrained the man for about 10 minutes and handed him over to police who were waiting when the airplane touched down, Gascoine said. The man had not taken his prescription medicine, Gascoine said, without providing details.
PHOTO: AP
■ Boxing
Deportees return to Cuba
Two boxers deported by Brazil were back in Cuba after they disappeared during the Pan American Games last month and were arrested at a resort where officials said they partied and ran up an exorbitant bill. Convalescing Cuban President Fidel Castro said in comments published on Sunday that the boxers would be confined to guest houses upon their return, although he promised not to harshly punish them. Guillermo Rigondeaux, Cuba's top boxer and a two-time Olympic bantamweight champion, and Erislandy Lara, an amateur welterweight world champion, arrived in Havana early on Sunday after being deported from Brazil.
■ Motorsport
Gronholm wins Finnish rally
Marcus Gronholm won the Finnish world championship rally on Sunday, beating Ford teammate Mikko Hirvonen by 24.2 seconds. World champion Sebastien Loeb of France was third in a Citroen, 1:09.9 behind. Gronholm increased his lead in the overall standings from nine to 13 points ahead of Loeb. Gronholm has 75 points, Loeb 62 and third-placed Hirvonen has 57 points. Gronholm finished the 360.34km of special stages in 2 hours, 27 minutes, 56.1 seconds. For Gronholm, world champion in 2000 and 2002, it was the seventh win in his eight last starts on home soil, the fast gravel roads in central Finland, 270km north of Helsinki.
■ Soccer
Beckham misses MLS debut
David Beckham missed his scheduled Major League Soccer (MLS) debut, failing to play in the Los Angeles Galaxy's match at Toronto FC on Sunday. Beckham, still bothered by a sore left ankle, wasn't among the starting 11 or seven substitutes for the game, played before a sellout crowd of 20,500. Beckham sprained his left ankle while playing for England against Estonia in a European Championship qualifier on June 6, then hurt it again during Real Madrid's season finale on June 17. On Saturday, the 32-year-old midfielder said he cannot plant or turn without pain and is seven to 10 days from being able to start.
■ Soccer
Porto win tournament
Portuguese champions Porto scored three first-half goals to defeat Shanghai Shenhua of China and win the Port of Rotterdam tournament on Sunday. Tarik Sektioui opened the scoring after five minutes and Leandro Lima struck twice in three minutes shortly before the interval to seal victory. Porto edged Liverpool, who fought back from a goal down to draw 1-1 against hosts Feyenoord, on goal difference. Feyenoord grabbed the lead on the stroke of halftime when Royston Drenthe netted a rebound after Andwele Slory hit the post.
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