■ FORMULA ONE
Webber surgery successful
Surgery to pin the broken right leg of Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber has been a success, his spokesman said yesterday’s. Red Bull driver Webber, 32, was riding a mountain bike when he collided with a four-wheel drive while competing in his own multi-sport charity event in Tasmania on Saturday. Geoff Donohue, spokesman for the Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge, said Hobart Private Hospital doctors had inserted rods to mend the breaks in his lower right tibia and fibula. It was not known at this stage when Webber would be able to leave hospital, he said. “He’s feeling sharp and spritely, all things considered,” Donohue said.
■ SKIING
Swedes win World Cup
Marcus Hellner and Charlotte Kalla of Sweden delighted home fans by winning their World Cup cross-country ski openers on Saturday. Hellner edged Pietro Piller Cottrer of Italy by 1.4 seconds in the men’s 15km freestyle while Kalla outclassed runnerup Marit Bjorgen of Norway by 24.4 seconds in the women’s 10k free. Hellner, a 23-year-old who has been on the national team for three years, covered the men’s race in 32:35.2. “This is wonderful,” Hellner said after his first World Cup win. “I’m totally exhausted. The fans were incredible and supported me so well throughout the race. I heard that only seconds separated us. When I heard the fans roar I understood that I had won the race.” Lukas Bauer, the defending World Cup overall champion from the Czech Republic, finished ninth, 29.7 seconds behind.
■ ATHLETICS
Hurdler to undergo surgery
China’s Liu Xiang, whose heartbreaking injury misery was one of the defining images of the Beijing Olympics, will undergo surgery on his troublesome right foot in the US at the end of next month. The 2004 Olympic 110m hurdles champion, who limped out of the Bird’s Nest Stadium in the Chinese capital before the start of his heats in August, will have the operation in Houston, Texas. “I have consulted a number of specialists in China and abroad and based on their unanimous advice, I have taken this decision,” said Liu, who was in Manaco to attend the end of season International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) gala yesterday. Former world champion Liu, with coach Sun Haping at his side, said that he had been suffering for many years as a result of calcification between the heel and the bone of his foot.
■ CYCLING
Australia wins UCI series
Australia’s national team won the Melbourne round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics series on Saturday. Australia, with 112 points, edged out compatriots Team Toshiba, who scored 98 points over three days of competition. Australian Shane Perkins went one better than his Manchester World Cup silver earlier this month to claim the men’s sprint with a straight heats win over Frenchman Michael D’Almedia. Spain’s Unai Elorrriage Zubiaur and David Muntaner Juaneda won the men’s 40km Madison, with Australia’s Cameron Meyer and CJ Sutton taking the silver and the German team of Henning Bommel and Fabian Schaar third. Great Britain’s Elizabeth Armitstead, Katie Colclough and Joanna Rowsell claimed the women’s team pursuit in 3:29.890 ahead of Australia’s Josephine Tomic, Sarah Kent and Ashlee Ankudin (3:30.506). Willy Kanis of the Netherlands took the women’s 500m time trial, posting a time of 34.657 with Jie Jie Gong of China (34.676) second.
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