■CRICKET
Malik divorces first wife
Former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik divorced his first wife, Ayesha Siddique, on Wednesday, ahead of his planned marriage to Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. Shams Babar, a friend of the Siddique family, said Malik had acknowledged his marriage to Siddique despite earlier denials. “Both Shoaib and Ayesha have signed the divorce papers today,” Babar said. The Siddique family on Sunday filed a police complaint against Malik over his plans to wed Mirza. In her complaint, Siddique alleged that Malik married her in June 2002 and accused him of subjecting her to cruelty and harassment by denying that the wedding took place and by trying to marry another woman.
■FOOTBALL
Saints agree Brown deal
NFL champions the New Orleans Saints have agreed to terms on a two-year contract with free agent defensive end Alex Brown, the team said on Wednesday. Brown, a former fourth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 2002, has played his entire eight-year NFL career with the Bears, appearing in 127 regular season games. The 30-year-old was released by Chicago last week.
■TENNIS
Clijsters wins in Marbella
Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-2 on Wednesday in the first round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience tournament in Marbella, Spain. Second-seeded Flavia Pennatta of Italy defeated Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-1, Beatriz Garcia of Spain beat Germany’s Kristina Barrois 7-5, 6-4 and Laura Pous of Spain topped Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-1, 6-3. In second-round matches, fifth-seeded Maira Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain routed Alberta Brianti of Italy, 6-0, 6-2 and Tatjana Malek of Germany defeated fourth-seeded Aravane Rezai of France, 6-4, 6-2.
■SOCCER
Suspects arrested in Turkey
Turkish police yesterday rounded up seven more suspects, among them a former international, in connection with a match-fixing probe, the Anatolia news agency reported. The second-wave of arrests came as part of the investigation launched by an Istanbul prosecutor upon a complaint from the Turkish Football Federation that has already seen more than two dozen people charged. Among those detained yesterday was Celil Sagir, the report said. The 35-year-old once played for Istanbul giants Fenerbahce and made a few international appearances between 1996 and 1997. The investigation hit the headlines last month when police detained 46 suspects. Twenty-seven were subsequently charged. The most high-profile figure to be accused so far is former international Fatih Akyel.
■CRICKET
Surrey gamble on bad boy
English county side Surrey have signed Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds for their Twenty20 campaign. His off the pitch exploits have earned him the reputation of being a troublesome presence in the dressing room. In 2005 Symonds was dropped by Australia for indulging in a late-night drinking session on the night before a one-day international and was sent home from Australia’s 2008 tour of Bangladesh and dropped from the tour of India later that year after missing a compulsory meeting in order to go fishing. He was dismissed from the Australian team at last year’s world Twenty20, his third disciplinary sanction in a year which culminated in his central contract being withdrawn.
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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