SOCCER
Gracia backs video referee
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system is a good idea if it helps English referees make fewer mistakes, Watford manager Javi Gracia has said ahead of today’s Premier League clash against West Bromwich Albion. The technology has had a mixed reception with many calling for the system to be scrapped after errors in multiple cup matches, the latest controversies coming in Tottenham Hotspur’s 6-1 FA Cup win over Rochdale on Wednesday. Match referee Paul Tierney was heavily reliant on VAR throughout the match at Wembley Stadium in London, with five of the seven goals scored in the game checked by VAR before being awarded. “England have good referees. If we review the mistakes, we have less mistakes,” Gracia said. “If they can do their job better with the help of technology, we must try to help the referees. So, for me, it’s important we help the referees.”
TENNIS
Del Potro maintains mastery
Argentine Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday maintained his perfect career record against Dominic Thiem with a popular 6-2, 7-6(7) victory over the Austrian in their Acapulco Open quarter-final in Mexico. The former US Open champion raced through the first set against the world No. 6, but had to battle much harder to secure the win in a tight second stanza on the outdoor blue hard court. The victory came in the tiebreak on a Thiem double fault, which was confirmed after the third seed, with nothing to lose, challenged the call. Hawkeye revealed the ball had been a few millimeters long, sending the enthusiastic pro-Del Potro crowd into wild cheering and applause. Del Potro improved his head-to-head record against Thiem to 4-0.
GOLF
Kang takes four-shot lead
Danielle Kang shot an eight-under 64 to take a four-stroke lead yesterday at the halfway stage of the Women’s World Championship in Singapore. Kang, who won last year’s Women’s PGA Championship, had eight birdies to equal the course record at the Sentosa Golf Club and lead the LPGA tournament at 12-under 132 after her second straight bogey-free round. Nelly Korda, whose sister Jessica won the LPGA Tour event in Thailand last week, had a 66 to be tied for second with fellow American Alex Marina (67). Taiwan’s Candie Kung was in 34th position.
CRICKET
Australia reach 300 runs
An unbeaten 60 from Mitchell Marsh and a quick-fire 35 from Mitchell Starc yesterday helped Australia to reach 300 for eight at lunch on the second day of the first Test against South Africa. Marsh brought up his third Test 50 in 125 balls and is now top scorer for Australia in their first innings as he weathered the second new ball with a circumspect approach. He and Tim Paine resumed with Australia on 225-5, but once South Africa took the second new ball, it took just four deliveries for Paine to edge a full delivery from Kagiso Rabada behind to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock for 25. Starc scuppered home hopes of restricting Australia to under 300 on a slow, batting-friendly wicket, hitting some lusty blows for a rapid-fire 35 runs off 25 balls before Keshav Maharaj bowled him in the last over before lunch.
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