■SOCCER
Urawa declare war on ducks
Japan’s Urawa Reds have declared war on a covert army of ducks that have been leaving their droppings and feathers all over the team’s training pitch. The side have launched “Project Eagle,” which involves the use of falcons, to keep the web-footed invaders at bay. “We have had problems with ducks for a while,” Urawa’s public relations chief Daisuke Maruyama said yesterday. The team’s training pitch was littered with feathers and mounds of droppings on Monday, with bite-sized chunks of grass nibbled off by the culprits. Having lost their season opener 2-0 at champions Kashima Antlers at the weekend, Urawa manager Volker Finke was unamused at the mess left by the birds. Urawa have been forced to conduct daily duck patrols with officials waving blinking torches to frighten off the visitors.
■SOCCER
Baggies aim to help Chile
West Bromwich Albion players yesterday aimed to raise money for the victims of the Chile earthquake with the words “Help Chile” on their shirts at a League Championship match against Sheffield Wednesday. Albion’s Chile defender Gonzalo Jara, who is sidelined with a broken bone in his foot, had to evacuate his wife and children from their apartment in Santiago when the earthquake struck on Feb. 27. West Brom do not have a regular shirt sponsor. The club will encourage fans to donate to the Chile relief fundraising through Red Cross organizations.
■MOTOR RACING
Moss survives elevator drop
British great Stirling Moss is recovering after plunging three stories down a lift shaft and breaking his ankles. A statement on his Web site said that Moss, 80, suffered the accident on Saturday and had surgery the next day. Moss, widely known as the greatest driver never to win the Formula One championship, opened a lift door on the third floor of his house and stepped forward, but the lift had stopped on the floor above. He also broke four bones in his feet and suffered four chipped vertebrae. The driver’s wife was quoted as saying Moss was in good spirits and already complaining about the size and quality of the hospital breakfast.
■TENNIS
Chile advance in Davis Cup
Chile secured a spot in the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Monday after Fernando Gonzalez defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to give the South Americans an unassailable 3-1 lead. In the second singles match, Jorge Aguilar of Chile beat Harel Levy 7-6 (3), 6-1, to make the final score 4-1. The Davis Cup series in Chile started a day late after the Israeli team had problems reaching the country following the earthquake that hit just over a week ago.
■BASEBALL
Alderson to lead reform bid
Former Major League Baseball (MLB) executive vice president Sandy Alderson has been appointed to oversee the sport’s effort to reform operations in the Dominican Republic, commissioner Bud Selig said on Monday. The Dominican Republic, which produced the most players on last year’s Opening Day rosters from outside the US has had to deal with issues including underage signings, alleged skimming of bonus money for prospects and high rates of positive doping tests. “Major League Baseball faces significant issues there, but all of them can be resolved favorably through the cooperative efforts of the Office of the Commissioner, the Major League clubs and the government and the people of the Dominican Republic,” Alderson 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
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