TOUCH RUGBY
Taipei Hulks move top
The Taipei Hulks seized top spot in the Taipei Winter Touch League at the Bailing rugby fields in Shilin District yesterday with two wins and a draw on the third Saturday of competition. The Hulks defeated KGB 3-2 and Taipei American School (TAS) 8-3, while AyKang Galaxy held them to a 2-2 tie. Galaxy mixed in a win — 4-1 over TAS — and a loss — 8-0 to the Taipei Beasts. The Beasts slipped to second on the table, going down to the burger-joint-sponsored KGB 7-2, who trounced TAS 8-0. There are two competition days left before the finals, with the fourth day to be played on Saturday next week at Bailing from 10am.
FORMULA ONE
Rosberg fastest in Mexico
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in Mexican Grand Prix practice on Friday as large crowds welcomed Formula One back to the nation after a 23-year absence. The German, who is fighting for second place in a championship already won by teammate Lewis Hamilton, lapped the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit with a best of 1 minute, 21.531 seconds. Off the track, Hamilton said his next Formula One contract is likely to be his last and does not want to “hog” a seat and deny others a shot at glory. The 30-year-old, who clinched his third title in Texas last weekend, indicated he intended to see out his career with Mercedes. Meanwhile, former Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez of Mexico is to drive for the new US-based Haas team in their Formula One debut next year. The announcement at a press event at Mexico City’s Soumaya Museum confirmed the worst-kept secret in the sport. The 24-year-old is to join French driver Romain Grosjean on the team, which is based in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
FOOTBALL
Redskins player sues site
Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garcon on Friday filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in US federal court in Maryland on behalf of himself and other NFL players, asserting that daily fantasy sports company FanDuel Inc used their names and likenesses without consent. The case comes as the unregulated fantasy sports industry, in which people pay to compete for daily cash prizes in simulated sports contests, faces legal scrutiny following reports that a DraftKings Inc employee won US$350,000 in a FanDuel contest using what appeared to be insider information.
CRICKET
Black Caps change plans
New Zealand are to travel to Brisbane early to acclimatize to the conditions there ahead of the first Test against Australia after their preparations were disrupted due to a tour match being scrapped in farcical circumstances on Friday. Originally intended to last four days, the match was scaled back to three before being abandoned by lunch on the second day due to the acute deterioration of the pitch at the Blacktown International Sportspark in western Sydney. New Zealand’s bowlers took only one wicket from the opening four sessions and only after the Cricket Australia XI openers built a 503-run partnership, an Australian record in first-class cricket. New Zealand’s batsmen did not hit a ball in anger and the team heads to Brisbane frustrated by the lack of match practice. Cricket Australia offered to find the Black Caps better facilities in Sydney, but New Zealand are instead to train at Allan Border field in Brisbane ahead of the Test at the Gabba, which is to start on Thursday.
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