■BASEBALL
Howard takes extension
Slugger Ryan Howard and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a five-year contract extension worth at least US$125 million, a report on MLB.com said on Monday. The deal includes a club option for a sixth year and will pay the first baseman US$20 million for the 2012 and 2013 seasons and US$25 million for each season from 2014-2016. The richest deal ever handed out by the Phillies makes the 30-year-old Howard the second highest-paid player in the Major Leagues behind New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez.
■FOOTBALL
Steeler accepts suspension
Disgraced Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger says he won’t appeal his six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s conduct policy. Roethlisberger, who continually stressed he committed no crime, apologized to his teammates and Steeler fans for his behavior last month in a bar, where a 20-year-old college student accused him of sexual assault. The all-star quarterback also said he would not put himself in a situation like that again.
■FOOTBALL
Patriots release Thomas
The New England Patriots released former Pro Bowl linebacker Adalius Thomas after three mostly disappointing seasons, the NFL team said on its Web site on Monday. Thomas, who spent seven seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before signing with New England in 2007, failed to produce his Pro Bowl form with the Patriots. Set to earn US$4.9 million this year, Thomas had only three sacks last season when he was a healthy scratch for two games and sent home after showing up late for a team meeting.
■TENNIS
Tomic left out of team
Talented teenager Bernard Tomic has been omitted from Australia’s Davis Cup team for next month’s Asia-Oceania second round tie against Japan in Brisbane. The 17-year-old, widely touted in Australia as the heir apparent to former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, became the country’s youngest Davis Cup player when he debuted with two singles victories against Taiwan last month. Team captain John Fitzgerald instead opted for world No. 72 Peter Luczak, 115th-ranked Carsten Ball and doubles specialist Paul Hanley.
■BOBSLEDDING
Medalist receives ban
Olympic medalist Randal Jones has been given a two-year ban for refusing an out-of-competition doping test. Jones, who won silver with the US’ four-man team at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games and another at the 2003 world championships, refused a US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) test on Jan. 26 citing his retirement from competition. However, the 40-year-old had failed to file proper paperwork to inform USADA of his retirement decision.
■SNOOKER
Murphy ends Ding’s hopes
Chinese No. 1 Ding Junhui crashed out of the World Championship on Monday as 2005 champion Shaun Murphy moved into the quarters with a 13-10 victory. Murphy now faces Ali Carter, who beat Joe Perry 13-11 in an all-English duel. Earlier, Ronnie O’Sullivan racked up three century breaks in the space of seven frames as the three-time champion powered past Mark Williams. The sport’s biggest star suddenly rediscovered his best form to clinch a 13-10 victory that set up a quarter-final meeting with Mark Selby, who completed a 13-5 win over seven-times champion Stephen Hendry.
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