■SOCCER
Banfield look for first title
Banfield can become Argentine champions today for the first time in their 113-year history, needing a victory over Boca Juniors to guarantee the title. Banfield can even clinch the championship with a loss, provided nearest rivals Newell’s Old Boys, who are two points behind, fail to win against San Lorenzo. Banfield and Newell’s — both established by English families who emigrated to Argentina — are the only teams that can claim the Apertura title, while big-name clubs like River Plate and Boca are way out of contention. Banfield go into the match on 41 points, with Newell’s on 39 points. If they finish level on points the title will be decided in a playoff on Wednesday at a neutral venue.
■SOCCER
Ajax defeat NFC Nijmegen
Ajax striker Luis Suarez took his league tally for the season to 18 with a goal in a 3-0 home victory over NEC Nijmegen on Friday. Jan Vertonghen set up Uruguayan Suarez seconds before the interval to open the scoring, with Siem de Jong and Mitchell Donald adding second-half goals. Twente Enschede, in action at home to NAC Breda this weekend, top the Dutch championship with 44 points after 16 matches, two more than PSV Eindhoven. Ajax remain third with 38 points from 17 matches.
■RUGBY UNION
Munster go four points clear
Munster moved four points clear at the top of their pool with a gutsy 24-23 Group 1 win over French champions Perpignan at Thonond Park on Friday. The French looked to have snatched the contest after South African replacement Philip Burger went over for a superb 70th-minute try, but visiting flanker Bertrand Guiry’s late high tackle allowed Ronan O’Gara to kick a match-winning penalty and ensure that the quarter-finals loom once again for Munster, who have at least made that stage for the past 11 seasons. Also on Friday, Glasgow saw off Gloucester 33-11 to keep their slender hopes of advancing from Pool 2 alive with tries by Max Evans and Bernardo Stortoni, while Dan Parks booted seven penalties and a conversion to see the hosts leapfrog their opponents in the table.
■SPEEDSKATING
Davis, Wolf set new records
Shani Davis of the US shattered his own 1,500m world record and Germany’s Jenny Wolf broke her own 500m world record to win World Cup speedskating races on Friday at the 2002 Olympic Oval. In the final World Cup stop before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, World Cup season points leader Davis made it clear he is the man to beat by winning in 1 minute, 41.04 seconds, with countryman Chad Hedrick second in 1 minute, 42.19 seconds. Davis, who lost to Hedrick last week at a 1,500m World Cup race in Calgary, set the old mark of 1 minute, 41.80 seconds on the same ice surface on March 6. Wolf won the women’s 500m title in 37.00 seconds. Wolf broke the old mark of 37.02 seconds.
■POWERBOAT RACING
Two die in high-speed crash
A French and an Emirati pilot of the Dubai Victory Team were killed on Friday when their boat overturned in a Class 1 World Powerboat Championship race off the Gulf emirate, organizers announced. Mohammed al-Mehairi of the United Arab Emirates and France’s Jean-Marc Sanchez were involved in a high-speed crash during the early stages of the race at the Dubai International Marine Club. “Safety personnel attended to both pilots at the scene. They were subsequently airlifted to a local hospital, where all efforts to resuscitate them were in vain,” the organizers said.
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