■ TABLE TENNIS
Wang in drunken furor
World No. 1 Wang Hao assaulted a security guard on Thursday in a drunken row that has caused a scandal in his native China, the Beijing News reported on Saturday. The 24-year-old Olympic gold medalist kicked a parking attendant who surprised him as he urinated in the Chinese capital, the daily said, quoting a witness. Another Beijing daily, Fazhi Wanbao, quoted the parking attendant as saying Wang Hao “smelled like he’d fallen into a barrel,” and ran off shouting: “I’m the world champion.” Wang Hao, who last month won the World Cup table tennis championships in Belgium, apologized to his victim after being taken to a local police station.
■ RALLYING
Loeb victorious in Corsica
French Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb, who is chasing a fifth consecutive world crown, won the Rally of Corsica yesterday, the 13th circuit in the 15-race World Rally Championship calendar. Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen and Belgium’s Francois Duval, both driving a Ford Focus, finished second and third respectively. Loeb’s record-setting 46th career win was also his fourth consecutive victory in the Rally of Corsica, nicknamed the “rally of 10,000 corners” for its testing course. It was also the Frenchman’s fifth victory in a row, having already triumphed in the Rallies of Finland, Germany and New Zealand in August and the Rally of Catalonia this month.
■ BOXING
Dawson takes IBF title
Chad Dawson remained unbeaten and captured the International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight title on Saturday with a unanimous 12-round decision over Antonio Tarver. Dawson improved to 27-0 with 17 wins inside the distance, the younger challenger displaying more speed and power than the 39-year-old champion, who fell to 27-5 with 19 wins inside the distance. Dawson, who knocked down Tarver in the 12th round, claimed his second world title, having given up his World Boxing Council light-heavyweight belt in July after three successful defenses. Two of the ringside judges scored the bout 117-110, while a third saw it 118-109 for Dawson.
■ IRONMAN
Aussie triumphs in Hawaii
Australian Craig Alexander won the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on Saturday, improving on his runner-up finish in last year’s edition of the grueling event. Alexander triumphed in 8 hours, 17 minutes, 45 seconds for the 3.8km ocean swim, 180km cycle road race and 42.2km run. “I can’t believe it. It was a hard race,” said Alexander, who was in 11th place at the end of the cycle race and took the lead half-way through the closing marathon run. Spain’s Eneko Llanos Burguera was second and Belgium’s Rutger Beke was third. Alexander became the third Australian man to win the prestigious title, after McCormack and Greg Welch in 1994. Chrissie Wellington of Britain won her second straight women’s title in 9 hours, 6 minutes, 23 seconds.
■ ATHLETICS
Fekadu wins in Melbourne
Asnake Fekadu of Ethiopia won the men’s race and Mai Tagami of Japan the women’s event at the Melbourne Marathon yesterday. Fekadu finished the men’s race in 2 hours, 17 minutes. Josphat Mwangi of Kenya, also the runner-up last year, was second, and Yared Mekonnen of Ethiopia third. Tagami won the women’s race in 2 hours, 38 minutes. Australians Michelle Bleakley and Jenny Wickham were second and third, respectively.
■ BASKETBALL
Magloire out for weeks
Miami center Jamaal Magloire, who broke his left hand on Thursday in a NBA pre-season game, will be sidelined for six to eight weeks, the Heat said on Saturday. Magloire was hurt in the third quarter of Miami’s second exhibition game of the season, which was played in Paris as part of the NBA Europe Live Tour. Magloire returned to Florida instead of staying with the team, which had another pre-season game against the New Jersey Nets in London on Sunday. The 30-year-old will be re-evaluated next week. The Heat open their regular season at New Jersey on Oct. 29.
■ FOOTBALL
Rookies fined for celebration
The NFL has reportedly fined Philadelphia rookies DeSean Jackson and Quintin Demps US$10,000 apiece for their touchdown celebration in last week’s loss to Washington. Jackson scored on a 68-yard punt return in the first quarter when Demps joined him in the end zone. They posed face-to-face with arms folded and heads bobbing, a seemingly innocent celebration that drew no reaction from on-field officials at the time. However, the Delaware County Times reported that the NFL had deemed their actions weren’t “natural, spontaneous expressions of exuberance and celebratory acts.”
■ ICE HOCKEY
Columbus center suspended
The NHL suspended Columbus Blue Jackets center Michael Peca indefinitely on Saturday in the wake of his game misconduct penalty in a season-opening victory over Dallas. Peca received the penalty for violating Rule 41, physical abuse of officials, at 5:21 of the second period of the Blue Jackets’ 5-4 overtime triumph over the Stars on Friday. The 14-year veteran has appealed the suspension and has a hearing scheduled for next week. Peca recorded eight goals and 26 assists in 65 games last season.
■ BASKETBALL
Ellis suspended for violation
Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis, already nursing a torn ankle ligament from a moped mishap, learned on Saturday the accident will be even more costly. Ellis, who inked a six-year, US$67 million extension this offseason, was suspended for 30 games without pay by the NBA team for violating the terms of that contract. The 22-year-old Ellis initially told the Warriors he was hurt in a pickup basketball game. But the Warriors eventually learned that Ellis was injured in the low-speed motor scooter accident. In a statement released by the Warriors, team president Robert Rowell said that Ellis violated paragraph 12 of the uniform player contract.
■ ICE HOCKEY
Kopitar signs extension
Anze Kopitar has signed a seven-year extension with the Los Angeles Kings, putting the 21-year-old center under contract through the 2015-2016 season. The seven-year deal is the second-longest in club history. Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s career leader in several categories, signed an eight-year deal in 1988. The contract was extended from seven to nine years after the first year. Kopitar is the latest player to receive a new contract from the Kings. Forward Dustin Brown signed a six-year agreement last year, and forwards Jarret Stoll (four years) and Patrick O’Sullivan (three years) also recently agreed to deals. Kopitar and the Kings were scheduled to open the season on Saturday night in San Jose.
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