■GOLF
Oosthuizen takes lead
Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa closed in on his maiden European Tour title after shooting a nine-under 64 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Trophee Hassan II. Oosthuizen had five birdies on the front nine and five more back to the clubhouse to go with a single bogey on the 17th. Overnight leader Rhys Davies of Wales had seven birdies in his round of 68 to sit in second place.
■YACHTING
Team NZ beats Italians
Team New Zealand completed a 2-0 clean sweep over Mascalzone Latino in a shortened Louis Vuitton Trophy yachting regatta final yesterday. After winning the first race by 12 seconds on Saturday, skipper Dean Barker and his crew cruised to a 56 second win in race two against the Italian entry, skippered by New Zealander Gavin Brady. The final was originally scheduled to be the best-of-five, but was reduced to best-of-three when light winds delayed the start of racing. After losing race one on Saturday, Mascalzone fought hard to stay in the contest in the second race and the two boats were bow-to-bow as they approached the top mark on the first beat. But Team NZ held the inside line, which allowed them to round the mark ahead and from there they controlled proceedings.
■BOXING
Solis defends WBC title
Olympic gold medalist Odlanier Solis of Cuba defended his World Boxing Council International heavyweight championship title on Saturday in Key West when Costa Rican Carl Drummond quit after three rounds. Solis (16-0) dominated the first three rounds and just before round four was to begin, Drummond shook his head to the referee and the fight ended with a technical knockout win for Solis. The bout began about 40 minutes late after Drummond had issues with the wrapping of his hands.
■GOLF
Ishikawa’s sis misses cut
Yoko Ishikawa, the 13-year-old sister of Japanese golfing sensation Ryo, was brought down to earth with a bump in her first outing in a professional tournament this weekend. Just a year out of elementary school, Ishikawa accepted an invitation to play on a sponsor’s exemption at the T-Point Ladies event in Kagoshima, southern Japan, but fell a long way short of making the cut. Her second round on Saturday included one birdie, five bogeys, four double bogeys and one triple bogey and she ended the Japan LPGA tournament with the worst score in the field at 24-over 168, the Daily Yomiuri reported.
■BASKETBALL
Song Shan High retain title
Song Shan High School won an 83-80 comeback victory over Nen-ren Household and Commercial Vocational High School to retain the national boys high school championship on Saturday in Taipei. The defending champs, known for their tenacious man-to-man defense, lived up to their nickname “The Green Shield,” forcing nine turnovers from Nen-ren in the fourth period and tying the game at 80 all with 23.9 seconds remaining before forward Hung Kang-chao made three out of four free-throws to secure the win. In the girls’ competition, Tamsui Vocational High School beat defending champions Pu Men High School for their first title in three years and seventh overall. Tamsui surpassed Jinou Girls High School as the only seven-time champion in the HBL girls’ competition.
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