Women’s world No. 1 Li Xuerui pulled out of the Japan Open yeserday with a sore knee and men’s No. 2 Chen Long suffered a shock defeat to cap a miserable day for China.
The withdrawal of Li, the top seed and London Olympic champion, from the eighth leg of the 12-round World Superseries was linked by her teammate to a jam-packed competition schedule for Chinese players, with Chen also saying that he was fatigued.
Li Xuerui, 22, suffered pain in her left knee before the first round started.
Li’s nearest rival and second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, who beat the Chinese at the world championship final last month, was also forced out the competition, suffering lower-back pain.
The back problem had also sidelined the 18-year-old Thai from the China Masters last week.
Chen, the All-England champion, went out 24-22, 21-16 to Kazuteru Kozai of Japan, ranked 287th in the world and with no major international success to his name.
The packed playing schedule has been a common concern for badminton stars, with Malaysian world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei being advised to reduce his tournament appearances to continue his career toward the 2016 Rio Olympics.
However, top-seeded Lee, 30, who skipped the China Masters to focus on the Japan Open, breezed past Taiwan’s Hsu Jen Hao 21-15, 21-9 in the final match of the first round.
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