CRICKET
Play called off due to rain
The first cricket Test between Bangladesh and South Africa yesterday ended in a draw after rain washed out the fifth day’s play in Chittagong, Bangladesh. With no chance of a result in the weather-battered match, officials called off play at noon. Rain had washed out the entire fourth day’s play and about 50 overs were lost on the second and third days at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. South Africa, who scored 248 in the first innings, bowled out Bangladesh for 326 before making 61-0 in their second knock. Bangladesh’s first innings total was their highest ever against the Proteas, the top-ranked Test team. Stiaan van Zyl was unbeaten on 33 and Dean Elgar was 28 not out for South Africa. The second and final Test is to be played in Dhaka starting on Thursday.
BOXING
Buglioni defeats Castaneda
Frank Buglioni stopped Fernando Castaneda in the fifth round to take the vacant WBA intercontinental super middleweight title at Wembley Arena in London on Friday. Castaneda came in at late notice after Buglioni was denied a shot at WBA world champion Fedor Chudinov when the Russian pulled out due to a nose injury earlier this month. British fighter Buglioni showed he had the measure of Mexican Castaneda by dominating the early rounds before unloading a big right-handed punch in the fifth to fell a faltering opponent and end the contest.
GOLF
Willett leads in Switzerland
Britain’s Danny Willett, who was tied sixth at last week’s British Open, produced another brilliant performance to lead the way in the European Masters before thunderstorms ended play early at Crans-Montana on Friday. He chalked up nine birdies in a second-round 62 to take the clubhouse lead on 13-under-par. Sharing second place on 12-under were South Korean pair Baek Seuk-hyun (63) and Yang Yong-eun (63), the 2009 US PGA Championship winner. Swedish amateur Marcus Kinhult was in fourth on nine-under after posting a 66. “I hit it well on the range this morning, got into a nice rhythm early on and carried it through the whole round,” Willett told reporters. “Over these last two weeks I haven’t been getting too far ahead of myself and every time I’ve got in trouble I’ve just taken my medicine and moved on to the next hole,” he said. US golfer Patrick Reed (69) was in a group on four-under-par, one better than Britain’s Lee Westwood (69). Spaniard Sergio Garcia faces an anxious wait before he discovers if his one-under-par aggregate will be good enough to make the cut. Twelve groups were unable to complete their rounds before the storms engulfed the Swiss Alps.
SOCCER
Roma players denied entry
Five AS Roma players were denied entry to Indonesia during the club’s pre-season tour and have been forced to fly back to Italy. The squad traveled from Australia, where they played friendlies against Real Madrid and Manchester City, and were in Indonesia yesterday for their final stop on a preseason tour. The players — Seydou Doumbia and Gervinho from Ivory Coast, Victor Ibarbo from Colombia, Antonio Sanabria from Paraguay and Adem Ljajic from Serbia — were refused entry on Friday night and later boarded a flight to Italy. No reason was given for the refused entry. Roma chief executive Italo Zanzi said on the club Web site that “it’s real disappointment for us, given that we’ve made a substantial effort to be here.”
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