■FOOTBALL
Redskins to retain name
The Washington Redskins won another legal victory on Friday in a 17-year fight with a group of American Indians who contend the football team’s trademark is racially offensive. The decision issued on Friday by the US Court of Appeals in Washington doesn’t address the main question of racism at the center of the case. Instead, it upholds the lower court’s decision in favor of the football team on a legal technicality. Redskins attorney Bob Raskopf said millions have been spent on the Redskins brand and the team would have suffered great economic loss if they lost the trademark registrations. “It’s a great day for the Redskins and their fans and their owner Dan Snyder,” he said. The court agreed that the seven Native Americans waited too long to challenge the trademark first issued in 1967. They initially won — the US Patent and Trademark Office panel canceled the trademarks in 1999 — but they’ve suffered a series of defeats in the federal courts since then.
■FOOTBALL
Smith charged with DUI
NFL great Bruce Smith was charged with drunk driving in Virginia Beach on Friday. City police spokesman Jimmy Barnes said the 45-year-old Smith was stopped at 1:42am on Interstate 264 and charged with speeding, driving under the influence and refusal to take an alcohol breath test. Smith was released on bond a few hours later. Smith, who played for the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins, is the NFL’s all-time sacks leader. He has two previous drunk driving arrests, but the first charge in 1997 was dismissed and he was acquitted in 2003.
■BOXING
DeGale silences critics
Britain’s Olympic champion James DeGale produced a powerful display to silence his critics on Friday with a first-round stoppage of unbeaten Czech Jindrich Kubin in Belfast, Northern Ireland. DeGale, 23, won the middleweight gold medal in Beijing, but he was booed by the crowd in his professional debut earlier this year as he unconvincingly beat Vepkhia Tchilaia of Georgia on points over four rounds. On the same bill, Britain’s world amateur champion Frankie Gavin made it two-for-two professional wins with a third-round stoppage of Frenchman Mourad Frarema.
■BASKETBALL
Tisdale dies of cancer at 44
Wayman Tisdale, who played 12 seasons in the NBA, died after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 44. Tisdale died on Friday morning at St John Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, hospital spokeswoman Joy McGill said. He learned of a cancerous cyst below his right knee after breaking his leg in a fall at his home in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2007. His leg was amputated in August. Tisdale, a 206cm forward from Tulsa, played in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. He averaged 15.3 points for his career. He was on the US team that won gold in the 1984 Olympics.
■TENNIS
Nalbandian may miss final
David Nalbandian has undergone hip surgery and is expected to be out of action for at least four months. The world No. 15 would miss Argentina’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Czech Republic in July and would play no part in the year’s remaining Grand Slam tournaments, the Davis Cup Web site said yesterday. Nalbandian picked up a hip injury at the Barcelona Open last month. He lost in the first round of the Estoril Open on his return and underwent surgery in Barcelona earlier this week.
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