■TENNIS
LTA image hits new low
The image of Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is at an all-time low a report by a group of senior politicians says. Britain’s lowly standing in the sport is a source of embarrassment and the All-Party Parliamentary Tennis Group has spent three weeks gathering evidence to try and find out where it is all going wrong. The report did not make pleasant reading for LTA chief executive Roger Draper, still reeling from this month’s humiliating Davis Cup defeat by Lithuania. “Given the remarkable level of expenditure, in excess of £60 million [US$90 million] annually, it should be possible to deliver better outcomes than at present,” the report said. “Esteem for the LTA seems to be at an all time low. As a consequence, much of the good work of the LTA tends to be overlooked.” Despite a huge budget compared to most countries, Britain only has one man and one woman in the top 100 of the rankings. Even Andy Murray, the world No. 3, trained in Spain as a junior.
■AUSTRALIA
New code ends media row
Sports bodies and media groups signed a code of conduct yesterday aimed at ending years of disputes and boycotts over press coverage of major sporting events. The code, believed to be the first of its kind in the world, scraps a number of reporting restrictions that sports administrations had imposed, leaving news agencies unable to cover cricket and Australian Rules Football matches. Leading sports bodies and media organizations signed the document, which was backed by the government and brokered by the country’s competition watchdog. The row centered on restrictions on the use of sports news and images on the Internet. Media that did not agree to the restrictions were unable to cover sports such as cricket.
■CRICKET
Lee makes T20 squad
Fast bowler Brett Lee was included in Australia’s squad yesterday despite injury concerns ahead of next month’s Twenty20 World Cup. Lee has played only one match for King’s XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), since returning this month from a serious elbow injury. He won selection ahead of the in-form Ryan Harris. “While Brett Lee hasn’t played the amount of cricket we would have liked him to in preparation for this World Cup, at his best he is one of the best Twenty20 cricketers in the world,” chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said. “Ryan Harris is extremely unlucky to miss selection given his strong performances in all forms of the game in recent times for Australia.”
■KABADDI
Players fail dope tests
India has suspended 13 players for doping and ordered more tests on others just days ahead of a tournament being dubbed the World Kabaddi Cup. The tests were conducted this month by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the state of Punjab. Players from 10 countries, including England, the US, Spain, Italy and Norway, will participate in the tournament, International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) president J.S. Gehlot said yesterday. “The suspended players do not belong to the national team and they are mostly locals put together from different districts of Punjab,” Gehlot said. “In any case they are playing a local form of Kabaddi called the circle style, which is not played by India’s national players. In Kabaddi, players from each side take turns sending a “raider” to the other team’s half, where the objective is to tag members of the opposite team.
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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