Basketball
Nowitzki out for six weeks
Dirk Nowitzki will miss the start of the NBA regular season after having knee surgery that is expected to keep him out of the lineup for six weeks, the team said on Friday. If everything goes according to schedule, Nowitzki will miss about a dozen games starting with his team’s Oct. 30 season-opener versus the Lakers. The German, the only European to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, started having problems with his right knee before last season. He had it drained twice in the past month to reduce swelling and soreness, but the problem reappeared both times.
soccer
Bonucci sees off gunman
Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci faced down an armed robber who pointed a pistol at his head before chasing the assailant as he tried to get away, Italian media reports said yesterday. The Italy international was with his wife and baby son at a car dealership in Turin on Thursday, looking to buy a Ferrari, when a man with his face covered pointed a gun at his head and demanded that he give him his watch. Bonucci refused and instead punched the thief, knocking him to the ground before chasing him as he tried to get away on a scooter with his accomplice. The Gazzetta Dello Sport reported the man shouted “What are you doing? Are you mad? I’ll shoot you” as Bonucci pursued them in vain. He later reported the incident to the police.
FORMULA ONE
Poor form my fault: Schumi
Former world champion Michael Schumacher has insisted his poor season is his own fault and has nothing to do with his car. Earlier this month, Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche blamed Schmacher’s disappointing return to Formula One on the German team’s underperforming car. Schumacher, 43, returned to Formula One in 2010 with Mercedes after a four-year hiatus, but the seven-time world champion has again failed to make an impact on the world drivers’ championship, where he is currently 14th. “As racing drivers, we are independent of the cars,” Schumacher said in an interview in today’s edition of German daily Die Welt. “The fact things didn’t go as well for me as planned is my fault, not that of the team. What is important though is to be able to look in the mirror and be able to say that I gave all I had. And I can do that. I can leave Formula One with my head held high.” Schumacher said he is looking forward to his freedom. “Above all, I am looking forward to spending time with my family,” said Schumacher, with his last race set to be the Brazilian Grand Prix on Nov. 25 in Sao Paulo.
soccer
Ashley to buy Rangers stake
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is ready to buy a stake in fallen Scottish giants Rangers, according to Ibrox chief executive Charles Green. Rangers already have a retail agreement with Ashley’s Sports Direct firm and the tycoon has now been given the green light to take a shareholding in the Scottish club. Green, who fronted a consortium that bought Rangers after their liquidation earlier this year, last week launched a share issue scheme for fans and is also looking to attract institutional investors. “As you know we’ve been trying to get the position clear where Mike can buy shares in Rangers,” Green told Sky Sports News on Friday. “We finally got clearance from the football league after they had a board meeting recently and the meetings this afternoon were to make sure the path’s clear for Mr Ashley to invest. He’s obviously keen to do that and I’m sure that will get completed in the next few days.
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