■SOCCER
Canales nets late equalizer
Gustavo Canales scored a last-minute equalizer to give Union Espanola of Chile a 2-2 away draw with La Equidad of Colombia in the Copa Sudamericana preliminary round on Wednesday. Franco Mendoza also scored in extra-time to give Emelec of Ecuador a 1-0 away win over Zamora of Venezuela in the day’s other preliminary-round fixture. The return legs of both matches will be played in three weeks. Canales opened the scoring for Union Espanola in the fourth minute, applying the final touch as Miguel Aceval’s free-kick ricocheted inside the area. La Equidad drew level when Ariel Carreno bundled home a 54th-minute corner and took the lead when Union defender Sebastian Miranda diverted into his own net from Wilson Carpintero’s cross in the 80th minute. Canales seized on a defensive lapse in the third minute of injury-time to ensure the draw. In Venezuela, substitute Mendoza headed home from a corner in the final minute to give the Ecuadorian club a valuable away victory.
■FOOTBALL
Eli Manning agrees to deal
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has agreed to a six-year, US$97 million contract extension, making him the NFL’s highest-paid player. A person close to the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been signed or announced, said Manning would be paid about US$15.3 million in annual salary to the end of the 2015 season. The deal means he will now be paid more than his older brother and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who receives an average US$14.2 million annually.
■ICE HOCKEY
Teppo Numminen retires
Veteran defenseman Teppo Numminen will retire after 20 seasons in the NHL. The 41-year-old Finn was an unrestricted free agent after playing the last four seasons in Buffalo. He also had stops in Winnipeg, Phoenix and Dallas during his career. He made the announcement on Wednesday, saying “playing hockey in the NHL and also for my country, Finland, was very enjoyable.” The three-time All-Star had 17 points in 57 games for the Sabres last season. In 1,372 career games, he recorded 117 goals and had 520 assists.
■CYCLING
Hagen wins in Rzeszow
Norwegian ace Edvald Boasson Hagen of the Columbia team won the fourth stage of the Tour of Poland on Wednesday after outshining teammate Andre Greipel in a sprint finish. Greipel, wearing the race leader’s jersey, finished second on the 239.7km stage from Naleczow to Rzeszow, but was later disqualified by race officials after an incident with another rider, believed to be Australia’s Allan Davis. It meant Belgium’s Jurgen Roelandts and Italy’s Danilo Napolitano were credited with second and third place finishes, meaning Roelandts was the new race leader. Roelandts leads Slovakia’s Borut Boziuc and a handful of other riders, including Greipel, by two seconds.
■RUGBY UNION
Giteau family to celebrate
The Giteau family will celebrate a unique double tomorrow when brother and sister Matt and Kristy both represent Australia. Matt will turn out for the Wallabies in their Tri-Nations match against South Africa in Cape Town, while his older sister Kristy will play for the national women’s team in a World Cup qualifier in Samoa. While Matt has been a regular in the since 2002, Kristy will be making her debut for the Wallaroos, although she has already represented her country at rugby league.
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