BASEBALL
Taiwan’s Tsao pitches in US
Taiwanese pitcher Tsao Chin-hui put up a good performance on Saturday on his first spring appearance in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-5 tie with the Cleveland Indians at Goodyear Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona. The right-hander threw 2-2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. The game was called at the completion of the ninth. The Dodgers signed Tsao for a minor-league contract about two months ago. He last pitched in major league baseball in 2007. Tsao was linked to game-fixing allegations in Taiwan more than five years ago, although he was never charged with any offense.
BASKETBALL
Manager bid hearty farewell
Tyler Adams came to Georgetown University hoping to follow the path to NBA stardom taken by fellow big men Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning, but a heart ailment ended his career after only four games as a freshman in 2011, or so he thought until Saturday. Adams had the chance to live his dream a final time, if only for a moment, after having spent four seasons as a team manager who practiced, worked out with the Hoyas and sat on the team bench during games. Georgetown coach John Thompson III received a waiver from the National Collegiate Athletic Association allowing Adams to briefly play in the team’s final home game against Seton Hall. Adams, a senior, was given the surprising start for his final home game, a tear rolling down his right cheek when he was announced in the opening lineup. Georgetown won the opening tip, guard Jabril Trawick passed the ball to Adams near the Seton Hall basket and Adams made an uncontested slam dunk that even had opposing Pirates players applauding in appreciation. Seton Hall players backed off defensively in their own tribute to Adams, a move not pre-arranged. The Hoyas fouled immediately to stop the game and Adams was removed to a standing ovation from the crowd in the home arena of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and congratulations from both teams, the moment of sportsmanship by far the outstanding play for both sides in Georgetown’s eventual 73-67 triumph.
SNOWBOARDING
Reiter has World Cup win
US snowboarder Justin Reiter took his first career World Cup win on Saturday with victory in a parallel slalom event in Moscow. California native Reiter defeated Austria’s Benjamin Karl by 10.66 seconds in the final. Italy’s Roland Fischnaller took third by 0.25 seconds from Andrey Sobolev of Russia. Vic Wild, who was born in the US, won double slalom gold for Russia at last year’s Olympics, but could not replicate that form on Saturday as he went out in qualifying, joining World Cup standings leader Zan Kosir of Slovenia.
TRIATHLON
Jorgensen extends streak
Gwen Jorgensen of the US won her sixth consecutive world series triathlon, while Mario Mola of Spain took the men’s event in equally convincing fashion on Saturday in the opening race of the year. World champion Jorgensen won the final five series events of last year, but even she was impressed with her effort in Abu Dhabi. She finished the swim leg 35 seconds behind the leaders and began the run more than a minute down. However, she cut 45 seconds off that deficit on the first of two 2.5km laps and passed leader Flora Duffy of Bermuda with 1.5km to go. She eventually won by 16 seconds from compatriot Katie Zaferes. Duffy was third, 24 seconds back.
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