HORSE RACING
Fiorente wins Aussie classic
Race favorite Fiorente held off Red Cadeaux in a close finish to win the Melbourne Cup yesterday, giving controversial jockey Damien Oliver his third victory in the classic and trainer Gai Waterhouse her first triumph in Australia’s most prestigious horse race. Mount Athos finished third in the US$5.9 million race Fiorente was runner-up in last year’s Melbourne Cup, while Red Cadeaux also finished second in 2011. Waterhouse, the daughter of legendary Australian trainer Tommy Smith and highly successful in her own right, had previously trained placed horses in the event, but it was her first win in decades of trying. Oliver is two months into his return to riding after serving a ban for betting on a rival horse in 2010.
SOCCER
Bologna held by Chievo
Strugglers Bologna and AC Chievo Verona played out a 0-0 draw in Serie A on Monday. There was hardly any shots on target as Bologna, searching for a third successive victory, were frustrated by a Chievo lineup keen to avoid a seventh consecutive defeat. Chievo defender Gennaro Sardo went close in the third minute with a powerful strike that went narrowly past the left upright. Bologna’s best chance came when Jonathan Cristaldo headed Alessandro Diamanti’s cross just wide of the left post. Christian Puggioni almost gifted Bologna the lead 12 minutes from time when he failed to hold Davide Moscardelli’s shot, but Panagiotis Kone could not properly strike the ball and the Chievo goalkeeper was able to save the second attempt. Chievo remain bottom of the standings, five points behind Bologna.
BASEBALL
Cabrera voted best player
Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera has won his second straight Player of the Year award in voting by his fellow major league players. Cabrera followed his Triple Crown season last year with another impressive year. He led the American League with a .348 average, and had 44 homers and 137 RBIs, both second to Baltimore’s Chris Davis. Cabrera edged Davis and the Angels’ Mike Trout for the honor. Retiring Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was voted Marvin Miller Man of the Year for excellence on and off the field, and he also picked up the American League Comeback Player of the Year award, notching 44 saves after missing most of last year with a knee injury. Pittsburgh’s Francisco Liriano was selected the National League’s Comeback Player of the Year. For the second consecutive year, Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen won National League Player of the Year.
BASKETBALL
Carter-Williams joins Shaq
Philadelphia rookie Michael Carter-Williams has joined Shaquille O’Neal as the only NBA players to win a Player of the Week award to open their career. Carter-Williams won the Eastern Conference honor after averaging 20.7 points and 9.0 assists in a surprising run of three wins in a week that included victories over Miami and Chicago. O’Neal won the award in 1992 while playing for Orlando. Kevin Love won the Western Conference award after leading Minnesota to a 3-0 week and averaging 29.7 points.
SWIMMING
Aussies break world record
Australia’s quartet stormed to a new mixed 4x50m medley relay world record in the opening heats of a World Cup meet in Singapore yesterday. Olympic and world gold medalist Cate Campbell anchored the time of 1 minute, 39.08 seconds after legs by Robert Hurley, Christian Sprenger and Alicia Coutts.
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