CRICKET
Neurologists clear Akmal
Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Umar Akmal has been given the green light to resume playing after suffering a fit while on duty for Barbados in the Caribbean Premier League last month. The 23-year-old had to drop out of the tour to Zimbabwe after being taken ill on a flight to Jamaica. “The good news is that after extensive tests and examination by top neurologists... Umar Akmal has been cleared to play again,” a Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman said on Friday. The spokesman added that the fit was down to sleep deprivation and there was no restriction on physical activity or exertion plus no need for medication or any further medical checks. “It was a one-off incident,” he said. Akmal is now hoping to get back into the squad for next month’s series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates. He has played in 16 Tests for Pakistan, scoring 1,003 runs at an average of 35.82. He has also featured in 76 one-dayers and 45 Twenty20s for his country.
BASKETBALL
Knicks’ Smith suspended
New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith has been suspended for five games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program, the league said on Friday. Smith, who won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award last season for his play off the bench, is recovering from off-season knee surgery and may not be fit for his team’s season opener on Oct. 30. His suspension will begin with the first game of the 2013-2014 NBA season for which he is eligible and physically able to play, the league said in a statement. Taken with the 18th overall pick by New Orleans in the 2004 draft, Smith recorded career-highs in points (18.1) and rebounds (5.3) last season. He signed a three-year US$17.9 million deal with the Knicks in July.
CRICKET
First ODI rained off
The first one-day international (ODI) between England and Australia in Leeds was washed out on Friday, as heavy and persistent rain flooded the ground and ruined any chance of play. Umpires Aleem Dar and Richard Illingworth had little option but to abandon hopes of any play taking place after inspecting the waterlogged outfield for a third time at 1:30pm. Drenched groundstaff tried in vain to soak up and sweep away puddles, which had grown larger by the hour on the grass and the large Headingley covers. However, the relentless downpour gave them little respite and chance of beating the odds, leaving those few fans inside the ground — and many hundreds in the surrounding bars — frustrated and soon heading for home.
SOCCER
Abidal angry at Barcelona
Eric Abidal has claimed he was not paid by Barcelona when he was seriously ill and is angry at how his time with the Spanish club came to an end. Barcelona responded on Friday by denying that it had withheld any of his salary. Abidal had a liver transplant in April last year that kept him away from soccer for a year. He returned to make a few appearances for Barcelona at the tail end of the 2012-2013 season, before leaving to join Monaco. “The problem was that my contract was coming to an end. In that case, either it’s renewed, either it ends. I was prepared for both,” Abidal said in an interview with sports daily L’Equipe published on Friday. Abidal also said he was disappointed at how his departure was announced. “What was hard to understand was what Barcelona said during my last press conference. By saying that it was a professional choice, it made other clubs doubt,” Abidal 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