CRICKET
Sammy named skipper
Darren Sammy was handed the task of rebuilding the fortunes of the once-mighty West Indies team when he was named as the new captain on Sunday. Jamaican Chris Gayle had been in charge of the side since 2007, but after the team slid to seventh in the Test rankings and eighth in the one-day standings, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) decided to change the leadership. “Chris Gayle led the West Indies during a challenging period and the board thanks him for stepping up then, but it is now time to pass the mantle on as the West Indies rebuilds,” WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire said in a statement. Selection committee chairman Clyde Butts added: “We are at the dawn of a new era in West Indies cricket and we have entrusted the challenging job of captaincy to Darren Sammy because it is believed that he has demonstrated the attributes of a leader of this diverse group of men.” The 26-year-old Sammy has played eight Tests, 43 one-day internationals and 19 Twenty20 internationals, and will hope to help the West Indies recapture the form that brought them 11 successive Test wins during the 1980s. His first task will be to lead the side during a six-week tour of Sri Lanka, which begins on Nov. 15.
GOLF
Mediate holds his nerve
Rocco Mediate held his nerve while shrugging off five bogeys in 12 holes to win his first USPGA Tour title in eight years with a thrilling one-shot victory at the Frys.com Open in San Martin, California, on Sunday. Three ahead overnight, Mediate was caught by four other players on the back nine and briefly surrendered the outright lead, before sealing the wire-to-wire win with a spectacular finish. The 47-year-old American sank an 18-foot birdie putt at the 16th and then holed out from the fairway to eagle the 17th on the way to a two-over 73 at a wet CordeValle Golf Club. He finished on a 15-under total of 269, one ahead of compatriots Bo Van Pelt (71) and rookie Alex Prugh (69). US Ryder Cup player Rickie Fowler, who birdied three of the last seven holes, was fourth at 13-under after closing with a 69.
GOLF
Green claims third title
Australian Richard Green overcame a seven-shot deficit following the third round to win the Portugal Masters in Vilamoura on Sunday by two strokes. Left-hander Green benefited from an error-strewn final round by overnight leader Pablo Martin of Spain to chalk up his third European Tour title, closing with a seven-under 65 for an 18-under 270 total. Martin led by three strokes going into the final round and was four ahead after five holes. However, a dramatic collapse by the Spaniard started with a double-bogey on the seventh after he hooked into water and his game quickly unraveled as he dropped down the leaderboard to finish tied in sixth place after carding a 75.
BADMINTON
Cheng settles for silver
Taiwan’s Cheng Shao-chieh lost to local teenager Ratchanok Inthanon (21-12, 19-21, 21-16) in the women’s singles final of the Indonesian Open on Sunday, having to settle for the silver medal. Fourth seed Cheng took a 6-5 lead at the beginning of the first set, before the 15-year-old Indonesian rallied for a comfortable win at 21-12. Cheng then won a hard-fought second set 21-19 to level the match. The Taiwanese was as much as seven points behind her opponent in the third set, before narrowing the gap to 19-16, but she still had to settle for silver. Cheng advanced to the final after eliminating Singapore’s Beiwin Zhang in the semis held in Samarinda, East Kalimantan.
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