FOOTBALL
Patriots, Saints win playoffs
LeGarrette Blount had four touchdown runs as New England kept Andrew Luck from a second straight comeback win by beating the Indianapolis Colts 43-22 to book their third straight American Football Conference championship game. Also on Saturday, Marshawn Lynch ran for 140 yards and two touchdowns as the Seattle Seahawks won their National Football Conference playoff. Steven Hauschka kicked three field-goals as the top-seeded Seahawks beat the New Orleans Saints 23-15. The Patriots (13-4) are to face the winner of yesterday’s game between the Broncos and Chargers, while Seattle are to host San Francisco or Carolina next Sunday.
SOCCER
Parma rise, Livorno struggle
Parma climbed to seventh and added to AS Livorno’s woes with a 3-0 Serie A win on Saturday, while the day’s late game between Bologna and SS Lazio ended in a goalless draw. The loss at Stadio Armando Picchi kept Livorno second from bottom and was their seventh reverse in eight games. The hosts only had themselves to blame as, despite having striker Antonio Cassano starting on the bench and never having won at Livorno, Parma opened their account after two minutes. Jonathan Biabiany harried down the right flank to send over a cross that Raffaele Palladino first-timed past Livorno’s Francesco Bardi. Parma then put the match beyond reach in the space of seven minutes at the death when Amauri hit a brace. At the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara stadium, Lazio were looking to claim their second straight win under new coach Edoardo Reja. However, after an impressive build-up, Bologna striker Rolando Bianchi saw his attempted backheel flick kept out by Lazio goalkeeper Etrit Berisha. Bologna are two points above the relegation zone.
GOLF
Fleetwood takes Durban lead
Tommy Fleetwood shot a third-round 69 to take a one-shot lead at the Volvo Golf Champions in Durban, South Africa, on Saturday. The Englishman produced four birdies and a lone bogey to move to a 10-under-par total of 206. Breathing down his neck with a share of second on 207 were France’s Victor Dubuisson and Dutchman Joost Luiten, with last year’s winner Louis Oosthuizen two off the pace despite a triple-bogey seven at the 16th. Dubuisson had his short game to thank for a solid third round. Local hope Oosthuizen was leading the pack with three holes to go before his triple bogey slip-up after striking his second into deep undergrowth and declaring it unplayable. Fellow South African Braden Grace was a shot further back on seven under, with Wales’ Jamie Donaldson another stroke away alongside France’s Raphael Jacquelin.
GOLF
Kirk tops Hawaii leaderboard
Chris Kirk on Saturday sank a nine-foot birdie putt on the last hole to grab a one-stroke lead over fellow Americans Will Wilcox and Harris English in the third round of the US PGA Sony Open in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kirk’s clutch putt completed a round of five-under-par 65 to stand on 12-under 198 through 54 holes at the US$5.6 million event. Americans Jerry Kelly and Jimmy Walker shared fourth on 200, one stroke ahead of a pack that included South African Retief Goosen, Australian Robert Allenby, Japan’s Hideto Tanihara and Americans Zach Johnson, Jeff Overton, Brian Stuard and Pat Perez. Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia struggled to a 71, falling to a share of 27th on 204, while Jason Dufner fired a 67 to share 13th on 202 and John Daly shared 18th on 203.
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