SOCCER
Klopp laments officiating
Juergen Klopp expressed disappointment at the officiating and his Liverpool side’s poor finishing in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final at Anfield on Wednesday after Southampton claimed a 1-0 victory to book a spot in the final. Liverpool failed to break down Southampton’s defense before Shane Long’s injury-time winner secured a 2-0 aggregate triumph for the Saints. Liverpool had a penalty appeal rejected when the ball struck Long’s arm and Klopp was disappointed that the officials missed it. “The handball was clear. Long, a clear handball,” he said. Daniel Sturridge missed two chances to hand Liverpool the initiative and Klopp was left lamenting the lack of a cutting edge. “Creating chances against a team like this is really not easy, but we did it and then you have to score,” he said.
SAILING
Joyon wins Verne trophy
Frenchman Francis Joyon and his crew of five aboard the trimaran IDEC Sport yesterday won the Jules Verne trophy for fastest outright sailing time around the world with a time of 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes. The previous record was held by France’s Loic Peyron, who had completed the circumnavigation in 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes in 2012.
SAILING
Captains ink agreement
Five of the six skippers in the America’s Cup gathered at the House of Garrard in London on Wednesday to announce a framework agreement they say will be good for the future of the oldest trophy in international sports. The agreement would lock in the current class of foiling catamarans, narrow the timeframe between the next two regattas to two years and make sailing’s marquee regatta less costly for new syndicates. While the agreement is touted as commercially attractive, a big problem is that Emirates Team New Zealand did not sign it and the agreement would be moot if the Kiwis win the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda this summer. New Zealand indicated in a statement that they prefer to stick with tradition as spelled out in the Deed of Gift, the 19th century document that governs the competition. “Emirates Team New Zealand believe the future America’s Cup format is to be decided by the Defender and Challenger of Record as it has historically been,” the syndicate said.
RUGBY UNION
Jones tells injury tales
England coach Eddie Jones led the media on a merry dance on Wednesday as he gave two explanations for a cut and badly bruised eye that led to him attending the official launch of the Six Nations championship wearing a large bandage. Initially the Australian said he had fallen in his hotel bathroom, but later changed his story. “We’ve had judo then MMA [Mixed Martial Arts] — we’re going through the martial arts,” he joked when asked about the injury at the Hurlingham Club in London. “Actually I slipped over in the hotel this morning. I walked out of the shower, I forgot to shave and I went over.” It seemed an unlikely explanation and he switched tack later in the day when interviewed on TV. “It was a tough old training camp,” he said having just returned from England’s preparations in Portugal. “I just slipped over and got my head cut at training.” Asked who had hit him, Jones said: “I don’t know, I’ll have a look at the video later.”
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