SOCCER
Deportivo defeat Eibar
RC Deportivo de La Coruna scored early and hung on for a 1-0 away win against Sociedad Deportiva Eibar on Monday, earning the promoted side their first win of the Spanish league season. Midfielder Juan Rodriguez scored what proved to be Deportivo’s winner in the 13th minute, when a poor clearance by Eibar defender Eneko Boveda fell to him in the area. After failing to threaten in the first half, Eibar substitute Dani Nieto had the hosts’ best chances with back-to-back solo efforts in the 58th and 59th. However, goalkeeper German Lux parried his first shot over the bar before Nieto hit the side netting with the second.
SOCCER
Verona pick up first win
Hellas Verona capitalized on a defensive error to beat newly promoted US Citta di Palermo 2-1 at home on Monday and pick up their first win of the Serie A season. Palermo took the lead in the 18th minute when Verona goalkeeper Rafael could only parry Francesco Bolzoni’s effort from Eros Pisano’s cross and Franco Vazquez fired in the rebound from close range. Verona leveled shortly before halftime after Sinisa Andelkovic hauled down Luca Toni in the area and the former Palermo forward fired the resulting penalty into the bottom left corner. A mix-up between Pisano and goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino saw Juanito Gomez bundle the winner into an empty net.
SOCCER
Hamburg coach fired
Mirko Slomka’s tenure as coach of Bundesliga tailenders Hamburg SV ended on Monday after just seven months as he paid the price for a dreadful start to the Bundesliga season. The 47-year-old — who replaced former Netherlands coach Bert van Maarwijk in February this year when Hamburg were in freefall and in danger of relegation for the first time in their history — saw his fate sealed ironically by a 2-0 defeat at the hands of his former club Hannover 96 on Sunday. Defeat left Hamburg at the foot of the table with just a point to their name after three matches.
TENNIS
France’s Mathieu advances
Former runner-up Paul-Henri Mathieu of France advanced to the second round of the Moselle Open in Metz, France, on Monday with a 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3) win over Benjamin Becker of Germany. Both players held serve throughout on the indoor hard court and Mathieu justified his wild-card entry by ramping up his level in the tiebreakers. The 32-year-old Mathieu next faces fourth-seeded Lukas Rosol. In the other first-round match played on Monday, Luxemburg’s Gilles Muller served 18 aces to get past Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1, 7-6 (8/6). He is to face top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the next round.
SWIMMING
Magnussen splits with coach
Australia’s world 100m freestyle champion James Magnussen said yesterday he is splitting with long-time coach Brant Best to get a fresh start heading toward the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The 23-year-old, who is battling a persistent back injury, said he wanted to reinvigorate his training program and was looking for a new mentor. “Brant has been such an important part of my journey as a professional swimmer and in shaping me as a person,” he said in a statement to the Australian Associated Press. “Those things combined have made this decision incredibly difficult. With Best, Magnussen won world titles in 2011 and last year, and claimed silver in the 100m freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics.
SOCCER
Ronaldinho called ‘monkey’
A former public official in the Mexican city where Ronaldinho has signed to play has called the Brazilian star “a monkey.” The comment by former Queretaro secretary of social development Carlos Manuel Trevino Nunez was posted on Facebook. “Seriously, I try to be tolerant,” Trevino wrote. “But I hate football and the idiotic phenomenon that it produces. I hate it even more because people flood the streets and it takes two hours to get home. All this for a monkey, a Brazilian monkey, but still.” In a statement the club said “racism, xenophobia ... and other discriminatory practices are a form of violence that should be erased from society.” The club asked the appropriate authorities to take action. Ronaldinho signed for Queretaro two weeks ago and is to play his first match this week.
OLYMPICS
Medalists expecting baby
Sochi Olympic medalists Selina Gasparin of Switzerland and Ilia Chernousov of Russia are expecting a baby together. Gasparin said at a news conference on Monday their child is due in March and her last biathlon competition this season will be this weekend. The 30-year-old Swiss athlete won silver in the 15km individual biathlon event at Sochi. Chernousov, now Gasparin’s husband, won bronze in a Russian sweep of the 50km cross-country skiing medals on the closing day of the Sochi Games. Gasparin won her medal on Valentine’s Day, the same day Dario Cologna and Sandro Viletta won gold for Switzerland in 15km cross-country classical and Alpine super-combined respectively. She says she hopes to compete as a mother at the 2016 world championships and 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
CYCLING
Skin uniforms ‘unacceptable’
Flesh-colored uniforms worn by a Colombian women’s cycling team were “unacceptable,” according to the International Cycling Union president. The uniform, with a flesh-colored section between stomach and thighs, was worn by IDRD-Bogota Humana-San Mateo-Solgar riders at the Tour of Tuscany in Italy over the weekend. UCI president Brian Cookson wrote on his Twitter account that “it is unacceptable by any standard of decency.” Cycling’s governing body on Monday said it investigated the issue. “The UCI will be sending a letter to the Colombian federation reminding them of their responsibility ... in the control of regional and club team kits that compete in international events,” it said in a statement. It was unclear if the six-member team was intended to be kitted in similar uniforms next week while representing Colombia at the road world championships in Ponferrada, Spain. Pictures of the team shared on social media prompted Cookson’s response. “To the many who have raised the issue of a certain women’s team kit, we are on the case,” the British official wrote.
SOCCER
Thai women get ‘consolation’
Thailand’s women’s soccer team are being treated to a cash hand-out — despite being hammered 5-0 in their first match at the Asian Games. “It’s disappointing that we gave away goals so easily in the first half, [but] we fared better in the second half,” Thai Football Association president Worawi Makudi said, according to yesterday’s Bangkok Post. The association had planned to give the team 200,000 baht (US$6,200) if they won the match. “But, for the players efforts, we decided to hand them 100,000 baht as consolation.” Thailand’s women have secured a berth at next year’s Women’s World Cup, the first in their history, but they were outclassed on Monday by hosts South Korea.
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