SOCCER
US women clinch berth
Carli Lloyd scored two goals as the US qualified for next year’s Women’s World Cup tournament with a one-sided 3-0 win over Mexico on Friday in Chester, Pennsylvania. Christen Press scored for the US in the contest, which also doubled as a semi-final game at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. The US started quickly as Lloyd scored inside of six minutes. She worked her way to the front of the Mexico goal before redirecting a header past keeper Pamela Tajonar. Tobin Heath dribbled into the box on the left and was tripped by Christina Murillo, allowing Lloyd to send the goalkeeper the wrong way from the penalty spot to make it 2-0. Sydney Leroux set up Press in the 56th minute with a precision through ball that allowed Press to step around the goalkeeper and roll the ball into the empty cage. Lloyd almost had a hat-trick as she had the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was called back because of an offside. Press then hit the post in the final 10 minutes with the US dominating play. The US returns to action in the final of the tournament on Sunday against Costa Rica.
ICE HOCKEY
Chara out with knee injury
Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara tore a ligament in his knee and is to miss between four and six weeks. General manager Peter Chiarelli said the 2009 Norris Trophy winner will not need surgery on the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Chiarelli said it was good news in that other ligaments in the knee would require a longer recovery. Chara left Thursday night’s game against the Islanders in the first period, one shift after a collision with New York forward John Tavares. He did not appear injured at the time, but his teammates knew it was serious when the 2.06m defenseman left the bench.
SOCCER
Celta beat Levante
RC Celta de Vigo striker Joaquin Larrivey scored two goals to help beat Levante UD 3-0 and deal coach Lucas Alcaraz a disappointing debut on Friday in Vigo, Spain. Celta dominated throughout, and Larrivey opened the scoring after a team move in the 27th before nodding in a rebound of Manuel “Nolito” Agudo’s strike in the 83rd. Goalkeeper Diego Marino then let Alex Lopez’s seemingly routine shot slip through his hands in injury time. With six goals this season, Larrivey is the league’s joint-fourth leading scorer. Alcaraz replaced Jose Mendilibar, who was fired this week with the team in second-to-last place. Levante showed no improvement and failed to add to a league-low four goals through nine rounds, three of which came in a 3-3 draw at Eibar. The closest Levante came to scoring was Andreas Ivanschitz’s long shot off the crossbar in the 71st.
SOCCER
Lens beat Toulouse 2-0
Racing Club de Lens overcame its personnel problems to win 2-0 at Toulouse and move off the foot of the Ligue 1 table on Friday as Alharbi El-Jadeyaoui and Benjamin Bourigeaud scored their first top-flight goals. Antoine Kombouare was without several of his regular players, with a trio of suspensions exacerbating his injury woes, so Baptiste Guillaume, Abdoul Ba and goalkeeper Valentin Belon were handed their first starts for the club. Lens took the lead in the 11th minute, when Deme N’Diaye raced down the left flank and crossed in for Alharbi El-Jadeyaoui to prod home. Bourigeaud doubled Lens’ tally shortly before the half hour, following a swift counterattack. Wissam Ben Yedder had a goal ruled out after the break for Toulouse, who were also thwarted by several fine saves from Belon.
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