■BADMINTON
Taiwanese wins medals
Taiwanese players won two silver medals and one bronze at the World University Badminton Championships that ended in Portugal on Sunday. Taiwan also finished fifth in the team competition, nudged out of a spot in the semi-finals after losing 3-1 to South Korea in their quarter-final clash. Wang Chia-min and Wang Pei-rong won a silver medal in the mixed doubles, while Liao Sheng-shiun and Hsieh Yu-hsing claimed silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the men’s singles. Taiwan sent 12 competitors to the event which featured players from 27 countries. The next world university championship will be held in Taipei in 2010.
■SOCCER
Capello names squad
Fabio Capello called up Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart and Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone for the forthcoming friendlies with the US and Trinidad and Tobago as the England coach opted to look at several promising youngsters. Huddlestone and Hart are joined in the 31-man squad by Everton defender Phil Jagielka, Middlesbrough center-back David Wheater and Blackburn defender Stephen Warnock. Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards and Matthew Upson are all sidelined through injury as Capello builds towards the start of England’s World Cup qualifying campaign in September.
■OLYMPICS
Winners to gain, eventually
Thailand is offering its athletes big cash incentives for Olympic gold medals — but will pay out in instalments to stop them squandering it. Gold medallists will earn 10 million baht (US$314,000), silver medal winners will take 6 million baht, while a bronze is worth 4 million baht — sizable sums in a country where the minimum wage is just 203 baht a day. However, half of the money will be paid over a 20-year period to prevent Thai Olympians, many of whom are from poor backgrounds, from frittering it away. “We don’t want them to spend it all at once, they might need this money when they get old,” Thai Olympic committee member Charoen Wattanasin said. “We will give it to them every month. Most of them manage their finances but there have been a few bad examples in the past.” Thai Olympic chiefs decided to stagger the payments after several cases of athletes finding instant fame and blowing their money on gambling and expensive party lifestyles. In 2004, boxer Manus Boonjumnong famously squandered the US$600,000 his Athens Olympics gold medal earned him on card games, soccer betting and excessive partying. His pregnant wife left him and his coaches sent him overseas in a penniless state to help resurrect his career. Manus, who insists he is now a reformed character, is favorite to win again in Beijing.
■RUGBY LEAGUE
Sailor signs deal
Former Wallabies winger Wendell Sailor ended a two-year drug suspension by signing yesterday with St George Illawarra of Australia’s National Rugby League. Sailor was suspended in July 2006 after a drug test in April of that year while playing with the New South Wales Waratahs in rugby union’s Super 14 revealed traces of cocaine. His contract with the Dragons runs through to the end of next year. The 33-year-old Sailor played rugby league with the Brisbane Broncos until 2001 before making the switch to union in 2002 for four seasons until being suspended. He has played 15 Tests for Australia’s league Test team and 37 in rugby union.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB