SOCCER
Taiwan draw Cambodia
Taiwan are to face Cambodia, while Malaysia and East Timor were paired together again yesterday in the playoff draw for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers. Malaysia and East Timor occupied the last two places in Group A of the previous round of qualifiers, with Malaysia winning 1-0 in Dili after drawing 1-1 at home in the opener. The first playoff stage for the lower ranking sides in Asia also see the Maldives facing Yemen, Tajikistan, the highest ranked at 150th in the world, playing Bangladesh and Laos drawn with India. The matches will be played on June 2 and 7. The five winners will advance to the next stage of qualifying for the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-hosted tournament, with the losing sides still able to advance if they come through a second playoff, also drawn yesterday. That draw also featured Bhutan, formerly the world’s lowest-ranked international side, who came last of the 39 sides in the second round of joint World and Asian Cup qualifiers, which concluded last month. The continent’s elite 12, including Asian champions Australia, perennial World Cup qualifiers Japan and South Korea, have already booked spots.
CYCLING
Cummings wins third stage
Stephen Cummings of Britain took a tightly bunched leading pack by surprise with a powerful sprint in the last kilometer to win the third stage of the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco on Wednesday. Cummings finished in 5 hours, 1 minute and 57 seconds. The 35-year-old Dimension Data rider timed his final surge perfectly, outsprinting second-place Simon Gerrans of Australia and Italy’s Fabio Felline, who finished third, both in the same time as Cummings. Spain’s Mikel Landa finished 37th in the same time but retained the overall leader’s jersey on the mountainous 193km ride from Vitoria to Lesaka that contained three category-2 climbs.
BADMINTON
Momoto faces Rio ban
Japanese badminton trailblazer Kento Momota is set to miss the Rio de Janeiro Olympics later this year after admitting to gambling at an illegal casino, local media reported yesterday. The 21-year-old world No. 4, 65th ranked Kenichi Tago and other teammates from their domestic Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corp sides said they wagered at the Tokyo casino, which had since closed after police raids, Kyodo News reported. Momota became the first Japanese to win the Badminton World Federation Super Series Masters Final in December last year and also landed the Asian nation a first men’s singles world championship medal when he claimed bronze in Jakarta in August last year. Nippon Badminton Association secretary-general Kinji Zeniya told Kyodo it would “probably be impossible” for the former world junior champion to compete at the Aug. 5-21 Games if the allegations were proven.
TENNIS
Isner ousts Kudla
Top-seeded John Isner had a two-set tournament-record 24 aces to knock out fellow American Denis Kudla 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round of the US men’s clay court championships on Wednesday night. The 30-year-old Isner had 12 aces in each set and was never pushed, despite failing to break Kudla’s serve in the match. Isner lost only four of his 46 first-serve points. South Korea’s 19-year-old Chung Hyeon beat 18-year-old American Tommy Paul 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 to become the third teenager since the tournament moved to Houston in 2001 to advance to the quarter-finals.
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