New Zealand have been awarded their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II tie against Pakistan after a hole about “an inch deep and half a foot wide” developed on the court in Myanmar.
The International Tennis Federation said match referee Asitha Attygalla made the decision because of the unplayable surface on the grass courts in the neutral venue of Yangon, which was used because of security concerns in Pakistan.
“It has been a rough court from day one, concerns which we voiced,” New Zealand captain Alistair Hunt told Radio Sport.
“The court only lasted about a match and a half before a reasonably good hole opened up on the baseline, which proved too dangerous to play on and the referee has called it,” he said.
Hunt said earlier that the hole had developed to “about an inch deep and half a foot wide” by the time Sri Lankan referee Attygalla called the tie off and awarded it to New Zealand 4-1.
There were also issues with uneven bounce and the players were unsure of their footing on the court, Hunt said.
Pakistan’s Aqeel Khan claimed the first singles rubber against Artem Sitak while Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi was leading Dan King-Turner 3-0 in the third set of the second when the tie was abandoned.
Pakistan Tennis Federation president Kaleem Imam yesterday said the decision was unjust.
“We are devastated at the decision,” Imam said. “If the surface had any problems why didn’t the referee tell us before the tie started, or why did he allow the first match to go on. We are going to lodge a protest against the decision.”
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