FOOTBALL
Murder charge for Ex-NFL star
Former National Football League star Aaron Hernandez has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting in July 2012 of two men in Boston, Massachusetts, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said on Thursday. The former tight end for the New England Patriots is already in jail awaiting trial on charges he and two accomplices shot a man to death in June last year. The Patriots released Hernandez from the team hours after his arrest in that case. Conley said of the new charges that Hernandez used a handgun to “ambush and execute” Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado, two Cape Verdean nationals, after they had left a Boston nightclub and were driving home on July 16, 2012. “Unbeknownst to them, Hernandez followed them traveling in an SUV. When the victims’ car stopped at a red light ... the SUV pulled up beside the victims’ car on the right. Aaron Hernandez then fired a .38 caliber revolver multiple times from the driver’s side of his vehicle into the passenger side of the victims’ vehicle,” Conley said. Both Abreu and Furtado died.
GOLF
Sergio Garcia in second place
Sergio Garcia shot a solid three-under-par 69 in the Spanish Open first round on Thursday to move into a share of second place in his home tournament. After finishing third in the Players Championship in Florida on Sunday last week, the world No. 7 made two early birdies and an eagle before hanging on over the closing holes to take an early share of the clubhouse lead. “I’m happy with my round,” Garcia told the European Tour Web site. “I didn’t have the greatest night last night and only slept for about four hours with the jetlag. “I didn’t feel extremely well with my swing, but I managed to put it in play and give myself some good chances at birdies. England’s Eddie Pepperell made five birdies in a round of 68 to take a one-shot lead from a group of players.
ICE HOCKEY
Sabres’ Konopka suspended
Buffalo Sabres forward Zenon Konopka has been suspended for 20 games for violating the NHL’s antidoping program, the league said on Thursday. In a brief statement, the league did not reveal the substance in question, saying only that the Canadian player had violated the terms of the NHL-NHL Players Association joint performance enhancing substances program. Konopka issued a statement through the players association accepting responsibility and saying that the substance was in an over-the-counter product he used. “I deeply regret that I have tested positive for a prohibited substance in violation of the NHL-NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program,” he said. “I accept full responsibility for this error. As a professional athlete I am responsible for what I put in my body, and I am to blame for this mistake. I want to make it clear that this violation occurred because I ingested a product that can be purchased over the counter and which, unknown to me, contained a substance that violated the program.”
CRICKET
David Warner sits out ODIs
Australia opener David Warner will sit out a triangular one-day international (ODI) tournament in Zimbabwe in August and September to remain with his partner as she prepares to have their first child. The 27-year-old has received the backing of coach Darren Lehmann to miss the two ODIs against South Africa and Zimbabwe as well as a potential tournament final. “That’s what happens in life — you settle down, you get married and you have children,” he 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