SOCCER
Own-goals foil Mechelen
Taiwan international Javier Chen saw yellow on Saturday and scored past his own goalkeeper as KV Mechelen let a two-goal lead slip away to Beerschot AC in Belgium’s Jupiler League. Julien Gorius scored from the penalty spot in the 35th minute for Mechelen to hand the visitors a halftime lead and Boubacar Dialiba Diabang doubled their lead in the 73rd minute. However, the Yellow Reds scored two own-goals in four minutes to hand Beerschot a point. Chen scored past his goalkeeper after 77 minutes and Kenny van Hoevelen did likewise in the 81st minute. After Saturday’s matches, Mechelen were 11th in the table with 11 points, while Beerschot were ninth with 14 points.
SOCCER
Drunk ref sent off
A referee was so drunk at a Czech soccer match that he constantly fell over and sent off three players for no apparent reason before police stepped in and breathalyzed the boozed-up official. “His breath smelt like a brewery and he didn’t hide the fact that he had been celebrating a birthday,” Karel Dusek, an official from the Jestrabi Lhota club, told the Lidove Noviny newspaper. With his shirt muddied by his numerous falls, the referee Tomas Fidra then sent off three Jestrabi players in the game against Tynec-nad-Labem. Having to face a team with just eight players, the home side agreed not to attack.
GOLF
Leonard leads at Disney
Justin Leonard chipped in three times for birdies in a span of five holes to help salvage a two-under 70. That gave him a share of the lead on Saturday with USPGA Tour rookie Kevin Chappell going into the final round of Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney. Chappell was more solid, making only one bogey at the start of his round of 66. It is his first time atop the leaderboard going into the last round. Webb Simpson dodged a bullet in his attempt to win the money title. Luke Donald, who needs to finish at least second to overtake him, got within three shots of the lead until a three-putt double bogey on the 14th hole. Simpson wound up one shot ahead of Donald going to the last day.
GOLF
Garcia extends lead
Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia shot a seven-under 64 on Saturday to extend his lead to a commanding eight shots after the third round of the Castello Masters. The hometown favorite overcame a shaky start by making a five-foot birdie putt at seventh hole before an eagle at the eighth. The 2008 champion then made five birdies on a flawless back nine for a 19-under total of 194. The 31-year-old Garcia will hope his familiarity with his childhood course can help him protect his substantial lead and end an almost three-year title drought. It would be his ninth European tour win.
TENNIS
Azarenka advances to final
Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka advanced to the Luxembourg Open final on Saturday by beating Julia Goerges of Germany 6-3, 6-3. She will play Monica Niculescu of Romania, who reached her first WTA final by ousting Britain’s Anne Keothavong 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a match lasting more than three hours. The third-ranked Azarenka broke her opponent five times, and saved seven of the nine break points she faced herself. The 34th-ranked Niculescu has spent most of her career on the ITF circuit, but is enjoying her best month ever, having also made the semi-finals of the China Open.
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