■BULGARIA
Skipper Berbatov retires
Bulgaria captain Dimitar Berbatov retired from international soccer on Thursday saying he wants to focus on his family and protecting his health. “It was a difficult decision, but I made it,” Berbatov said in Sofia. The Manchester United striker has been captain of the national team for the last three years, but failed to lead the team to the World Cup in South Africa. “Everything has a beginning and an end, and that is today,” he said. The 29-year-old Berbatov made his international debut in 1999 and is Bulgaria’s all-time leading scorer with 48 goals in 77 appearances.
■SERBIA
Partizan seal league title
Partizan Belgrade sealed a record third successive league title with a match to spare after a 3-0 win at neighbors OFK gave them an unassailable seven-point lead over closest rivals Red Star Belgrade. Brazilian striker Cleo rounded the goalkeeper and stroked in an early opener and substitute Brana Ilic produced almost a blueprint copy in the 89th minute after a good solo run. Serbia midfielder Radosav Petrovic put the icing on the cake with a header in stoppage-time. Red Star, who needed OFK to avoid defeat to keep alive any hopes of taking the title race to the final day, slumped to a 3-1 home defeat by BSK Borca. Mladi Radnik Pozarevac were relegated after a 4-1 home defeat by fellow strugglers Cukaricki Belgrade, while Napredak Krusevac boosted their chances of avoiding the drop with a 2-1 win over Rad Belgrade.
■SWITZERLAND
Young Boys deposed
Young Boys Berne, who have led the Swiss Super League for almost the entire season, were knocked off the top with one match to play on Thursday after an extraordinary 5-1 defeat at FC Luzern. FC Basel overtook them on goal difference by beating Neuchatel Xamax 3-0, helped by two goals from Switzerland’s record international scorer Alexander Frei. Young Boys, runners-up in the last two seasons, will host Basel tomorrow in their final match, needing a win to clinch their first title since 1985-1986. Luzern’s win clinched a fourth-place finish, which gives them a place in the Europa League qualifiers along with third-placed Grasshoppers.
■AUSTRIA
Salzburg clinch the title
Red Bull Salzburg scored twice in three minutes to clinch the Austrian Bundesliga title for the second year running on Thursday with a 2-0 win at Sturm Graz on the last day of the season. German midfielder Simon Cziommer fired Salzburg ahead in the 14th minute and Roman Wallner scored direct from a free-kick two minutes later. It was Salzburg’s sixth Austrian title, three of them coming since the club was bought and rebranded by the Red Bull soft drinks company in 2005 amid protests by the fans. They finished with 76 points, one ahead of Austria Vienna and a further two in front of Rapid Vienna.
■GERMANY
Eigler gives Nuremberg edge
Christian Eigler scored with a late glancing header to give Nuremberg a 1-0 victory over Augsburg in the first leg of the playoff for a place in the Bundesliga on Thursday. Nuremberg need only a draw in Augsburg tomorrow to remain in the top division. Eigler scored in the 84th minute. Augsburg goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch saved a penalty in the 67th minute. Augsburg finished third in the second division to earn the right to play the 16th-placed finisher in the top tier, Nuremberg, for a place in the first division.
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