■CRICKET
Rain delays start of Test
Persistent rain washed out the opening day’s play of the second Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand yesterday. Umpires Daryl Harper of Australia and Asoka de Silva of Sri Lanka, along with match referee Javagal Srinath of India, inspected the wicket before calling off play at 12:30pm local time. “The situation was assessed and the umpires and match referee felt that no play was possible due to the soggy outfield because of the overnight and morning rain,” an official said. “The play will start half-an-hour early at 9am on Sunday [today].” Persistent rain since morning had forced ground authorities to keep the pitch covered and the toss couldn’t be held. New Zealand lead the two-match series 1-0.
■MOTOGP
Hayden fastest in Valencia
Nicky Hayden of the US led both free practice sessions for the Valencia Grand Prix on Friday. Hayden had a fastest lap of 1 minute, 45.777 seconds around the 4km Cheste circuit. Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa of Spain was second, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo of Spain and former world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy. In the 250cc first qualifying session, Alex Debon of Spain was fastest in 1 minute, 50.001 seconds, ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan and Mika Kallio of Finland. In the 125cc first qualifying session, Simone Corsi of Italy was quickest in 1 minute, 59.809 seconds, ahead of Lorenzo Zanetti of Italy and Stevie Bonsey of the US.
■GOLF
Seve has third operation
Doctors have successfully operated for a third time on golfer Seve Ballesteros to remove remnants of a brain tumor and reduce swelling inside the skull, the Madrid hospital treating him said on Friday. “The targets originally planned have been achieved and [the operation] has eliminated the oedema [swelling] and the remnants of the tumor,” Madrid’s La Paz hospital said in a statement. “The patient is stable ... and is currently controlled in the intensive care unit.” A spokeswoman for the hospital added that the former world No. 1 remained in a serious condition and he would be monitored over the next 48 hours for signs of change. La Paz’s chief brain surgeon Javier Heredero and two other brain surgeons spent six-and-a-half hours operating on Ballesteros, who retired from the game last year after winning 87 titles, including three British Open trophies and two US Masters.
■RUGBY UNION
Scarlets say bye to Stradey
Scarlets said goodbye to their famous Stradey Park home with a 27-0 victory over Bristol in the Anglo-Welsh Cup on Friday. Playing their last match at the Llanelli Stadium, which has been their home for 129 years, the Welsh side saw Morgan Stoddart, Simon Easterby and Rob Higgitt all score tries, while Stephen Jones kicked 10 points. Down the years Stradey witnessed some dramatic matches, including victories over Australia in 1984 and 1992. But the most famous was Llanelli’s 9-3 success over the mighty All Blacks in 1972. Scarlets will now move to a new, 15,000-capacity, all-seater stadium called Parc y Scarlets next month.
■SKIING
Fanchini out for season
Italian Elena Fanchini has been told she will not compete this season after suffering injuries in a crash on Thursday while training for the World Cup ski season opener in Soelden, Austria. Fanchini, a silver medalist in the downhill at the 2005 World Championships, was diagnosed with ruptured left knee ligaments among other injuries after her crash.
■FOOTBALL
Burress incurs fine
New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress was fined US$45,000 by the NFL on Friday for verbally abusing an official and tossing a ball into the stands during last weekend’s game against San Francisco. Burress was fined US$20,000 for comments to head linesman Phil McKinnely after the official called him for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and $20,000 for inappropriate comments after the game on the officiating. McKinnely had called Burress for offensive pass interference against cornerback Nate Clements on the previous play. After the next play, Burress drew the unsportsmanlike penalty for some choice remarks to the officials. Burress was assessed another US$5,000 fine for throwing a ball into the stands after catching a touchdown in the third quarter.
■COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Boise State holds on to bid
Boise State kept alive its bid for a berth in the collegiate Bowl Championship Series by beating San Jose State 33-16 on Friday. Kellen Moore threw two touchdown passes and Ian Johnson ran for two scores in a matchup of the top two teams in the Western Athletic Conference. San Jose State nearly derailed bids for undefeated seasons by the Broncos in their past two visits to Spartan Stadium and hoped to be able to complete the job this year. But Boise State proved to be too much for the Spartans to handle, winning for the 49th time in its past 51 conference games.
■BOXING
Italian takes WBC belt
Giacobbe Fragomeni became a world champion at age 39 in front of his hometown fans by defeating Rudolf Kraj for the vacant WBC cruiserweight title on Friday. Fragomeni was leading 77-74 on all three judges’ cards when the fight was stopped in the eighth round because of a cut above his eye sustained in the previous round from an illegal headbutt. Kraj, who was attempting to become the first world champion from the Czech Republic, was strong in the first two rounds before ceding to the Italian’s speed. The WBC title was vacated by Britain’s David Haye, who moved to heavyweight recently. Fragomeni’s only defeat to go with his 26 victories was to Haye in 2006.
■YACHTING
Record attempt aborted
British billionaire Richard Branson abandoned his bid to break the trans-Atlantic speed record on Friday after a “monster” wave ripped the main sail of his single-hulled racing yacht two days after setting sail from New York. Branson and his crew made the decision on Friday when the Virgin Money was about 965km out in the Atlantic. No one was injured in the storm, and the sailors hoped to reach St. George, Bermuda — the nearest point of land — later on Friday.
■BASKETBALL
Bulls pick up options
French forward Joakim Noah, Swiss guard Thabo Sefolosha and US forward Tyrus Thomas had contract options for the 2009-2010 National Basketball Association season picked up on Friday by the Chicago Bulls. Noah, the ninth overall selection in last year’s NBA Draft, averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 76 games in his first NBA campaign. Sefolosha, selected 13th overall by Philadelphia in the 2006 draft before being obtained by the Bulls, has spent two seasons with Chicago, averaging 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds. Thomas, a number four selection obtained by the Bulls in a 2006 draft-day trade, has averaged 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 146 career games. The Bulls will open this year’s season at home on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
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