■ TENNIS
Mirza to skip Bangalore
Sania Mirza, Asia's top-ranked women's player, plans to skip the Bangalore Open tennis tournament next month to avoid possible controversies in her home country. Mirza, ranked 29th, said she was advised by her management to skip the US$600,000 tournament, which is billed as the richest in India. "Every time I play in India there is a problem. Considering all that, I thought it would be better not to play in Bangalore," Mirza was quoted as saying yesterday in the Times of India.
■ JUDO
Tani has `brain revolution'
Japan's double Olympic judo gold medalist Ryoko Tani has hit upon an unusual idea to prepare for this year's Beijing Games -- a neurological kick-start. Busy being a mother since winning her second successive gold in Athens four years ago, Tani has turned to scientific methods to help sharpen up for an attempt on an Olympic treble. The pint-sized judoka will spend three days listening to lectures from brain specialists in Paris, Japanese media reported yesterday, some under the headline "Tani's Brain Revolution!"
■ RUGBY UNION
England call up three players
England coach Brian Ashton called up three players to his Six Nations squad on Monday, two days after its shock loss to Wales in the Six Nations. Ashton brought in uncapped scrumhalf Lee Dickson, promoted Shane Geraghty from the second-tier England Saxons team and recalled Magnus Lund, who was cut from England's initial World Cup squad. England plays Italy in Rome on Sunday. England relinquished a 19-6 lead to lose 26-19 at home to Wales on Saturday. During the game, England lost winger David Strettle, back rows Lewis Moody and Tom Rees and center Mike Tindall with injuries. All four are almost certainly ruled out for Italy, while Tindall could be out for the tournament after checking into the hospital Sunday with bruising to his liver.
■ FIELD HOCKEY
Argentina remain unbeaten
Brothers Lucas and Rodrigo Vila scored a goal apiece to help Argentina remain unbeaten after the third round of a six-nation men's field hockey Olympic qualifying tournament yesterday. Argentina, ranked No. 7 in the world, rallied to beat France 4-2 and to move closer to a place in Sunday's final, the winner of which qualifies for the Beijing Olympics. New Zealand maintained its unbeaten record and stayed on track to meet Argentina in the final when it beat the US 4-0, while Ireland downed Trinidad and Tobago 7-2.
■ SKIING
Palander cuts season short
Slalom specialist Kalle Palander of Finland has cut his season short to undergo surgery on a stress fracture of his shin. Palander, who has 14 World Cup victories to his name -- the latest coming as recently as last December's giant slalom in the Italian resort of Alta Badia, underwent the operation in Helsinki on Monday. "It's not a major operation, but the timing's not great. His season is over. The fracture was bad and the pain recurring," Finnish ski federation spokeswoman Soili Hirvonen said. The 31-year-old Palander, who was crowned world slalom champion in 1999 and 2003 World Cup champion in the discipline, still intends to compete in his fourth winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, Hirvonen said.
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