SOCCER
Villarreal beat Espanyol 2-1
Goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo saved a stoppage-time penalty to preserve Villarreal’s 2-1 victory at RCD Espanyol in the Spanish league on Monday. Asenjo dove correctly to his right to deny Sergio Garcia’s spot-kick after Villarreal defender Gabriel Armando handled inside the area. Villarreal led 2-0 by the 50th minute at Cornella El-Prat Stadium near Barcelona, starting with teenage midfielder Matias Nahuel picking out Moises Gomez’s run into the area, before Jeremy Perbet doubled the advantage by scoring from a through-ball into the area. Espanyol cut the advantage in half in the 77th after Jhon Cordoba powered home a low shot, but Asenjo’s late heroics ensured Villarreal kept pace with fourth-place Athletic Bilbao for the league’s last Champions League qualifying place. Villarreal trail Athletic by four points. Espanyol stayed 10th.
ICE HOCKEY
Milan Hejduk retires
Former Colorado Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk is retiring from the NHL. Hejduk, 38, played 14 seasons in the NHL, all with the Avalanche. The three-time Olympian from the Czech Republic scored 375 goals in 1,020 NHL games and won a Stanley Cup in 2001. Only two Czech-born players have registered more points in NHL history: Jaromir Jagr and Patrik Elias. In a statement, Avalanche executive vice president Joe Sakic said Hejduk’s “release along with his hockey sense and vision made him one of the premier goal-scorers in the NHL during his prime.” Hejduk did not play this season after a trying 2012-2013 in which he missed time with shoulder and torso injuries and scored a career-low 11 points in just 29 games.
ICE HOCKEY
Czech coach resigns
Czech Republic ice hockey coach Alois Hadamczik quit on Monday after failing to lead his team further than the Sochi Olympics quarter-finals, the Czech Ice Hockey Association (CSLH) said. “Alois Hadamczik resigned from his post today, he announced his decision to the CSLH head,” the association said on its Web site. The Czech Republic, including NHL stars Jaromir Jagr and Patrik Elias, were beaten 5-2 by the US in the quarter-finals. Hadamczik himself told a Czech radio station he did not “feel like going on” after being subjected to heavy criticism by the media following the defeat. Hadamczik, 61, has led the Czechs — who won the Olympic title in 1998 — to two world championships bronze medals since he took charge in 2010. In his previous stint as national team coach, he won Olympic bronze in Turin in 2006 and silver at the 2006 world championships. He will most likely be replaced by Vladimir Ruzicka, a former Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators center, who coached the Czechs to world championship titles in 2005 and 2010.
RUGBY UNION
England No. 8 Vunipola out
England No. 8 Billy Vunipola will miss the rest of the Six Nations after scans on Monday revealed ligament damage to the right ankle he hurt in the 13-10 win over Ireland on Saturday. Vunipola limped off just before halftime at Twickenham, and was replaced by Ben Morgan. Vunipola has been an England starter since the autumn internationals, and will miss the last Six Nations matches against Wales and Italy. “It’s a blow, as Billy has had a good Six Nations, but he is young and will be back,” England coach Stuart Lancaster said. “The encouraging thing is that we have Ben Morgan and other back-rows, such as Matt Kvesic and Tom Johnson, who are all competing hard for places.”
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