SOCCER
Levante draw Espanyol
Levante UD twice came from a goal down to hold RCD Espanyol to a 2-2 draw in the Spanish league on Friday. Victor Casadesus salvaged a point for the hosts when he took a pass from Juan Francisco Garcia to score in the 88th minute. Espanyol midfielder Lucas Vazquez opened the scoring when he pounced on goalkeeper Diego Marino’s clearance of Victor Sanchez’s shot in the 17th, but Simao Mate leveled the match by heading in Nabil El Zhar’s corner four minutes later. Espanyol took the lead again through Felipe Caicedo just before halftime. Levante rose two places to a provisional 16th in the standings while Espanyol remained provisionally in eighth.
SOCCER
Die Fohlen draw Frankfurt
Borussia Moenchengladbach, chasing a Champions League spot, saw their four-game winning run end when they drew 0-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday. ’Gladbach, unbeaten in nine Bundesliga games, remained in third spot on 54 points, three ahead of fourth-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who were to play Hanover 96 yesterday. Eintracht, largely toothless without injured Bundesliga top scorer Alex Meier, are now without a victory in four matches and lie eighth, just off the Europa League spots. The hosts were unlucky not to score in the 70th minute when they broke free and Stefan Aigner fired narrowly wide from 10m. Substitute Thorgan Hazard almost snatched victory for Gladbach with the last kick of the game, but Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was on hand to deny the Belgian. Leaders Bayern Munich, 10 points clear at the top, were to take on TSG 1899 Hoffenheim yesterday and need three wins in their remaining six games to seal the title.
MOTORSPORTS
Taylor takes TUDOR pole
Ricky Taylor won the Prototype pole on Friday for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach. Driving the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP, Taylor broke the track record with a lap at 1 minute, 14.790 seconds on the downtown street circuit to edge Scott Pruett. “As the fuel load burned off during the qualifying session and the car got lighter, it got faster,” Taylor said. “That fastest lap wasn’t as hair-raising as I expected it would be.” Pruett had a 1:15.048 in Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates’ No. 01 Ford to take the second starting position yesterday. Christian Fittipaldi was third at 1:15.274 in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP. In the GT Le Mans class, Bill Auberlen topped the field with a track-record lap at 1:17.268 in the No. 25 BMW Team RLL Z4. Teammate John Edwards was second in the No. 24 BMW at 1:17.516.
OLYMPICS
Rio promises safe boating
The head of the Rio 2016 Olympic organizing committee promised that the venue for rowing and canoeing will be safe despite a massive fish die-off in the small lake. Sanitation workers have removed at least 37 tonnes of rotting fish from the lake in central Rio since last week. At an unveiling on Friday of commemorative coins for the 2016 Olympics, Carlos Nuzman says the venue “will be delivered in conditions to host the competitions without any problems.” Biologists list pollution as the cause of the die-off, though state officials say it was caused by a change in water temperature. Severe water pollution threatens to embarrass the Olympic host. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes has acknowledged the Olympics have been a “wasted opportunity” to clean the lakes, rivers and even the waters lapping the famous beaches.
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