MARATHON
Melbourne won in 2:14:08
Kenya’s Isaac Birir and Celia Sullohern of Australia yesterday won the men’s and women’s races at the Melbourne Marathon respectively. Birir clocked two hours, 14 minutes and eight seconds, beating compatriot John Langat by 19 seconds. He was well outside the best time for the course, set in 2013 by Kenya’s Dominic Ondora at two hours, 10 minutes and 47 seconds. Sullohern clipped nearly five minutes from her personal best to win the women’s race in two hours, 29 minutes and 28 seconds for the fourth-best time by an Australian woman on home soil. The race attracted more than 30,000 runners and finished with a lap of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
BOXING
Horn may fight McGregor
Australia’s Jeff Horn will defend his World Boxing Organization welterweight title against England’s Gary Corcoran in December before a potential blockbuster bout with UFC star Conor McGregor, reports said yesterday. Horn stunned Manny Pacquiao in a unanimous 12-round points decision in July, with the Filipino great pulling out of a planned rematch later this year. This has opened the door to Corcoran, with the bout set for Dec. 13 in Brisbane as part of a two-fight deal inked with the Queensland state government, the Brisbane Courier-Mail said. Known as “Hell Raiser,” Corcoran has 17 wins and one defeat to Horn’s 17 wins and one draw. If he wins, Horn then hopes to fight mixed martial arts champion McGregor.
FOOTBALL
Patriots rookie in accident
New England Patriots rookie Harvey Langi and his wife were on Friday involved in a three-vehicle accident when they were rear-ended by another car, the NFL team said on Saturday. The chain-reaction accident sent five people to the hospital and involved serious injuries, but there were no details regarding the 25-year-old Langi’s injuries, ESPN reported. On the official injury report, the Patriots listed Langi as out for yesterday’s game at the New York Jets with a back injury.
SOCCER
‘Scandalous’ call: Wenger
Arsene Wenger said that Arsenal were the victims of a “scandalous” penalty decision in their shock 2-1 defeat at Watford on Saturday. Wenger’s side were leading through Per Mertesacker’s first-half goal when referee Neil Swarbrick ruled that a challenge from Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin on Richarlison was worthy of a penalty. Television replays suggested that Richarlison made the most of minimal contact, but Watford’s Troy Deeney stepped up to convert the spot-kick. Wenger was furious with the penalty, saying: “It was a scandalous decision, but what can we do? Nothing. You can talk and talk, but at the end of the day they scored.”
BASKETBALL
Cavs shed four from roster
The Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday trimmed their roster ahead of the upcoming NBA season, trading forward Richard Jefferson and guard Kay Felder to Atlanta while releasing center Kendrick Perkins and guard Isaac Hamilton. The Hawks, who released Felder and Jefferson to save US$3.8 million in combined salary, also received second-round picks in the 2019 and 2020 NBA Draft from Cleveland. Atlanta sent the Cavaliers the draft rights to 22-year-old Greek forward Dimitrios Agravanis, who has played the past four years for Olympiacos of Greece, and Ukrainian guard Sergiy Gladyr, who has played the past two seasons for Monaco.
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