SOCCER
Bale Welsh player of year
Real Madrid star Gareth Bale was voted Welsh Player of the Year for a record fifth time on Monday. Bale won the award after being involved in eight of Wales’ nine goals in their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, scoring six times and providing two assists. The former Tottenham Hotspur forward’s efforts have left Wales on the brink of qualifying for their first major tournament in 58 years. Chris Coleman’s side need one point from their final two qualifiers against Bosnia-Herzegovina away and Andorra at home to make it to the finals in France next year. Bale was also named Players’ Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the /year at a Cardiff ceremony.
SOCCER
Carvajal out of Euro qualifiers
Real Madrid fullback Dani Carvajal was one of three players to withdraw from Spain’s Euro 2016 qualifiers later this week due to an ankle injury. Real Sociedad centerback Inigo Martinez and Villarreal midfielder Bruno Soriano have also had to pull out, the Spain camp said. “He has been diagnosed with an injury to the peroneal tendons in his right ankle,” Real said of Carvajal’s injury. Carvajal, 23, was forced off during Real’s 1-1 draw at city rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday and Spanish media reports claim he will be out for two to three weeks. Martinez, 24, has a muscular injury, while Soriano, 31, is suffering from “post-traumatic arthritis” in his knee, according to the Spain management. Group C leaders Spain host Luxembourg on Friday before traveling to Ukraine on Monday next week — a win in the first or draw in the second will be enough to secure their passage to next year’s Euro 2016 finals in France. Viallarreal’s Mario Gaspar was called up to replace Carvajal, while Athletic Bilbao’s Xabier Etxeita and Mikel San Jose come in for Martinez and Soriano respectively.
SOCCER
Deschamps backs Lacazette
France coach Didier Deschamps is backing striker Alexandre Lacazette to make his mark, despite a poor start to the season. Deschamps called up Lacazette to the France squad for international friendlies against Armenia and Denmark after Stade Rennais striker Paul-Georges Ntep had to pull out with a hamstring injury picked up against AS Monaco on Sunday. Lacazette, who has scored once in eight appearances for his country, was voted French Player of the Year last season after topping the Ligue 1 scoring charts with 27 goals for Olympique Lyonnais. However, he has struggled to hit the back of the net this term, missing a penalty against Stade de Reims on Saturday before finally notching his first goal from open play this season — and only the second in total — as Lyon won 1-0. “He’s improving. He had a very unstable summer for various reasons,” Deschamps said. “But Alex hasn’t lost his qualities and his last match put the smile back on his face. It [his selection] is also to show him he’s not been kicked out of the group. He’s on the right track.”
BASKETBALL
Fenerbahce beats Nets
The Brooklyn Nets lost their pre-season opener on Monday night to Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker, who got 18 points from former NBA lottery pick Jan Vesely in a 101-96 victory. Brook Lopez scored 18 points for the Nets and Wayne Ellington added 16. With a big crowd of fans cheering them on, the Istanbul team improved to 2-2 all-time against NBA clubs. Bogdan Bogdanovic, a Phoenix Suns draft pick last year, added 17 points, and another former NBA player, Gigi Datome, had 16.
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