■BASKETBALL
Wizards acquire Yi Jianlian
The Washington Wizards have acquired Chinese forward Yi Jianlian from the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Quinton Ross, the teams said on Tuesday. New Jersey will also give the Wizards “cash considerations” in the deal for the 2.13m Yi, who averaged career highs of 12 points, and seven rebounds last season. “This trade is a good opportunity to add a skilled seven-footer with significant NBA experience who was the sixth overall pick in the draft just three years ago,” Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld said. “Yi fits in very well with our ongoing plan of building towards the future with a core of young, talented players.” Yi was originally selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft and traded to New Jersey prior to the 2008-2009 season.
■HOCKEY
Canadiens trade Kostitsyn
The Montreal Canadiens traded forward Sergei Kostitsyn to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, ending the Belarusian’s rocky tenure with the team. Montreal, who also sent future considerations to the Predators, will receive forward Dustin Boyd, goaltender Dan Ellis and future considerations in exchange for Kostitsyn, whose older brother Andrei plays for the Canadiens. Boyd collected five points in 18 games last season for Nashville, while Ellis had a 15-13 record with a 2.69 goals-against average in a back-up role to Pekka Rinne. He was suspended in October by Montreal when he failed to report to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League after being demoted. He later asked for a trade. Kostitsyn was also told by the Canadiens that he was not welcome at one of the team’s morning skates because of his work habits.
■GOLF
Scotland qualifies for Open
Eleven years after becoming the youngest player to secure a spot through qualifying for the British Open at age 16, Zane Scotland has earned a place in this year’s edition at St Andrews next month. Scotland finished second on Tuesday in one of four qualifying competitions played over two rounds on Scottish courses. Scotland, an Englishman from the Challenge Tour, carded 66 and 71 to finish behind Laurie Canter, who had 69 and 67. Denmark’s Mark Haastrup was third to take the final qualifying place on the Fairmont St Andrews course. The nine places at the other courses went to Colm Moriarty, Tom Whitehouse, Jamie Abbott, Tyrrell Hatton, Phillip Archer, Simon Edwards, Paul Streeter, Gary Clark and Steven Tiley.
■SOFTBALL
Taiwan to play China
Taiwan was to play China yesterday in the world softball championship playoffs in Caracas. The US finished group play unbeaten after defeating the Czech Republic 9-0 on Tuesday at the world softball championships. The victory gives the US, which has won the championship six straight times, the top spot in Group B. Japan went 7-0 in Group A after its 10-0 win over South Africa. In other results on Tuesday, Australia downed Botswana 10-0, Britain edged Argentina 2-1, New Zealand blanked the Dominican Republic 3-0, Taiwan beat Cuba 1-0, Venezuela defeated China 5-2 and Canada downed the Netherlands 6-1. The group round wrapped up on Tuesday, setting the pairings for yesterday’s playoffs, which besides Taiwan vs China would see: Japan vs Venezuela; the US vs.Canada; and Australia vs Netherlands. Playoffs are also set for today with the final scheduled for tomorrow. The US and Japan are favored to reach the final
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