CRICKET/BOXING
Flintoff trades bat for gloves
Having knocked down many an off-stump during his time as England cricket captain, Andrew Flintoff hopes to do the same to opponents when he takes to the boxing ring later this year. Flintoff’s preparations for his debut fight, scheduled for Nov. 30 at the Manchester Arena, are to be televised in a documentary The Gloves Are Off. The 1.93m sportsman, who would box as a heavyweight, has yet to apply to the British Boxing Board of Control for a license, but is being trained by former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan and the Irishman’s son, Shane. Flintoff played in 79 Tests for England as an all-rounder before retiring from cricket in 2010 because of injury. He transcended sporting fame to become a national treasure by leading England to a famous Ashes victory in 2005 — their first Test series win over Australia in almost two decades. He has made numerous media appearances since on sports panel shows and was a guest commentator during some matches of last year’s Darts world championship in England. Robert Smith, the general-secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, said obtaining a license was not a foregone conclusion.
RUGBY SEVENS
UAE to host tournament
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to host an inter-Arabian Gulf Rugby Sevens tournament to boost the sport regionally, ahead of the 2014 Asian Games and the 2016 Olympics. The event is also part of a drive to get Sevens into the West Asian Games, UAE Rugby Association chief Ian Bremner said. Officials have held talks with rugby’s world governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), and plan to stage the four-nation event in November. “We’ve just applied last week to the IRB to run a ... tournament here with Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia and ourselves,” Bremner told reporters. “It’s a West Asian Sevens competition and this is obviously on the route towards the Asian Games.” Bremner said the IRB had encouraged the UAE to invigorate the sport within the region. “This is our first step in terms of hosting that tournament,” he said. “We’d be very happy for any of the other teams attending to host another leg of that next year.” The UAE’s rugby chiefs are looking to increase the number of nationals playing the game with a view to future involvement in the Asian and Olympic Games. The sport will feature in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, and also for the first time at an Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
RUGBY UNION
Argentina finalize team
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan finalized his team for their Rugby Championship clash on Saturday against New Zealand when he named his replacements bench yesterday. The Pumas had named their starting side on Tuesday, with flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez and openside flanker Juan Manuel Leguizamon returning to the side after injuries. Both players missed Argentina’s 16-16 draw with South Africa in Mendoza, Argentina, two weeks ago and will bring an added dimension to a Pumas side packed with experience and burning to stamp their credentials on the competition. “We are really excited to play the match against New Zealand,” center Santiago Fernandez said in a statement on the Argentine Rugby Union Web site. “They are the best in the world and we hope things go well. We have to try to put them under a lot of pressure, because if you let them play, they are lethal. They are the best in the world and if you have not closed spaces [they will punish you].”
Soccer
US seek qualification
The US are seeking their first World Cup qualifying win in Jamaica as the two top teams in Group A square off in back-to-back matches, beginning today in Kingston. The US continue their qualifying run to the 2014 World Cup when they travel to Kingston for the first contest. The teams meet again on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio. The US have earned draws in their previous four attempts to win qualifying matches on Jamaican soil. “Obviously these are two huge games for us with six points on the line,” coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “We are in a good position at the moment in our group, but we are going into the games against Jamaica with the mindset that we want to win both. We feel very confident in the group that we have coming in. We are developing a lot of good chemistry and experience in the team, and now our goal is to become more and more consistent.” The US and Jamaica lead Group A with four points after two matches, but the US have a better goal differential. The US prepared to face Jamaica by holding a three-day training camp in Miami. “We are trying to get the players focused on going into Jamaica for the Friday night game and hopefully pull off a victory,” Klinsmann said. “We’re confident of doing well and focused on our work. If I look at our team and our roster, I am excited.”
GOLF
Tour back at Kingsmill
The LPGA Tour is back on the River Course at Kingsmill, for many a return to one of their favorite stops on tour. The return to Kingsmill is also part of a resurgence in the women’s game, so much so that a purse that has fallen from US$2.2 million when the tour last visited in 2009 to US$1.3 million this time around hardly seems to matter to the field.Cristie Kerr won twice on the layout when the tournament was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch. She says the Bermuda rough is more prevalent than she remembers, but hopes her return might help her end a victory drought that started in 2010. It might help that only four of the top 10 on the money list are playing.
SOCCER
Mob storms headquarters
Hundreds of people stormed the headquarters of Egypt’s Football Association on Wednesday to protest a decision to resume league games despite an ongoing trial over rioting and stadium deaths, witnesses and security sources said. The protesters, mostly passionate fans of Cairo’s Al-Ahly club known as “Ultras” attacked the building with flares and other projectiles, witnesses said. No one was hurt, secrity sources said. The Ultras were furious after the Football Association decided to resume league games before the trial ends. More than 70 people were killed in Port Said in February, in the deadliest incident in Egypt’s football history, after clashes in the Suez Canal city between fans of home side Al-Masry and those of Al-Ahly. The fighting erupted at the final whistle when Al-Masry fans invaded the pitch after their team beat the visitors 3-1, throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at Al-Ahly supporters, causing chaos and panic as players and fans fled in all directions. The Port Said stadium deaths sparked days of violent protests in Cairo, in which another 16 people were killed. The violence was one of the deadliest incidents in football history, and came amid charges from witnesses that security forces did little to prevent the rioting, prompting more deadly clashes in the days that followed.
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