BASEBALL
Lincecum makes donation
Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is giving US$25,000 to assist the San Francisco fan who suffered a serious head injury when he was attacked outside Dodger Stadium last month. The donation will go to the Bryan Stow Fund to help with the 42-year-old paramedic’s medical bills and other expenses. Stow was beaten in a car park outside Dodger Stadium after the teams’ March 31 season opener. He remains hospitalized in Los Angeles in a medically induced coma. Despite the offer of a US$150,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, police have not charged anyone. The Giants raised almost US $70,000 for the Stow fund, partnering with his employer, American Medical Response, to gather donations at their ballpark on Monday during a game against the Dodgers.
SOCCER
Barcelona to sue station
Barcelona are set to sue Spanish radio station Cadena Cope for 6 million euros (US$8.7 million) after it reported claims by a Real Madrid official that the Catalan soccer giants were involved in doping players. Cope quoted an unidentified Real Madrid “representative” last month as saying the club had asked the Spanish soccer federation to take drug testing more seriously. According to the radio station’s March 13 report, Real Madrid could not understand how doctors with “questionable reputations” could work for Barcelona. It also cast doubt on doctors working for Valencia. Barcelona said on Thursday they would lodge a suit yesterday for defamation with a public court in Barcelona.
CRICKET
Buchanan moves to NZ
Former Australian national coach John Buchanan was confirmed yesterday as New Zealand’s new director of cricket. His brief is to design the blueprint for a consistent coaching philosophy across the country, implement a talent identification program and oversee the selection panel. “John’s appointment is an exciting one for New Zealand Cricket. He has a great cricketing pedigree and will provide outstanding leadership as NZC look to move forward,” New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said. During Buchanan’s eight years at the helm of the Australian side from 1999 to 2007, they won three World Cup titles, and won a record 16 consecutive Test and 23 consecutive ODI World Cup matches.
BASEBALL
Replay may be expanded
Major League Baseball is leaning toward expanding video replay next year to include trapped balls and fair-or-foul rulings down the lines, a person familiar with the talks told the Associated Press. MLB commissioner Bud Selig and a group of umpires discussed the extra video review at spring training and were in agreement, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still being discussed. MLB began using replay late in the 2008 season, though only to check potential home run balls. Since then, there have been a spate of missed calls in the playoffs and World Series. In October, New York Yankees right fielder Greg Golson clearly caught a low liner for the final out of Game 1 in the playoff series against Minnesota, but the umpire ruled the ball bounced. In the 2009 playoffs, Joe Mauer’s hit down the left-field line landed fair by a full 30cm at Yankee Stadium, hopped into the seats and was mistakenly called a foul ball. Out-or-safe calls on the bases, like the one that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game last year, would not be subject to review. Nor would ball-or-strike decisions, the source said.
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