RUGBY UNION
Matfield returns to bench
South Africa have retained the same starting lineup and recalled veteran lock Victor Matfield to the bench to play defending champions New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals. Matfield’s return to the bench, in place of Pieter-Steph du Toit, is the only change to the 23-man squad announced on Wednesday from the 23-19 win over Wales in the quarter-finals last weekend. The 38-year-old Matfield, a 125-Test veteran, has struggled all season with a hamstring strain and has not played since South Africa’s win over Samoa on Sept. 26.
TENNIS
Sock, Baghdatis advance
American Jack Sock and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus advanced to the second round of the Stockholm Open with hard-fought wins on Tuesday, while Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen ended his singles career with a defeat against Nicolas Almagro. Seventh-seeded Sock hit 11 aces to beat Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3 for a second-round match against Fernando Verdasco of Spain. The 2009 champion Baghdatis was taken to a first-set tiebreaker before beating Sam Querrey of the US 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 in a match lasting 77 minutes. He now faces fourth-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia. Lucky loser Almagro beat Nieminen, making his 16th straight appearance in Stockholm, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4. Also, eighth-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg saved eight of 10 break points and hit 16 aces in a 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1 win over qualifier Mischa Zverev of Germany. Steve Darcis of Belgium defeated Adrian Mannarino of France 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
TENNIS
Sara Errani advances
Third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy advanced to the second round of the Luxembourg Open by beating Julie Coin of France 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday. Also, seventh-seeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic defeated Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-4, 6-2, Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic beat Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 and Johanna Larsson of Sweden defeated Andreea Mitu of Romania 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-3.
BASKETBALL
NBA coach likely for US
An NBA coach will likely follow Mike Krzyzewski as US Olympic basketball coach. USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo on Tuesday said during an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio that the “odds are that it will be a professional coach.” Krzyzewski was hired as US coach in 2005 when Colangelo began the national team program and is to guide the US into the Olympics for the third straight time next summer in Rio de Janeiro. Colangelo said he hoped to unveil his plan to replace him sometime soon. The US had only been led by NBA coaches once pro players were allowed to be used starting in the 1992 Olympics.
RUGBY UNION
Castrogiovanni has surgery
Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni has had a tumor removed from his back. Castrogiovanni, Italy’s most capped player with 115, took to Facebook shortly after his operation on Tuesday to post a photograph of him smiling in his hospital bed, and added “all good!!!” Castrogiovanni, who turned 34 yesterday, missed Italy’s third Rugby World Cup pool match against Ireland with a sciatic nerve problem and tests found a tumor pressing on his fifth vertebrae. Castrogiovanni pulled out of the remainder of the World Cup — his fourth — missing the Azzurri’s final match against Romania. He has been Italy’s first-choice tighthead for a dozen years, and plays for Racing Metro club.
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