■ Sumo
Roho defeats Kotooshu
Russian Roho spoiled Kotooshu's ozeki debut in Tokyo yesterday with an upset win on the first day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament. Roho, a No. 2 maegashira, got a left-hand grip on Kotooshu's belt after the faceoff at Ryogoku Kokugikan and threw the Bulgarian wrestler down to post an opening-day win. Kotooshu was promoted to sumo's second highest rank in November after posting 11 wins in the Kyushu tourney but couldn't kick off his ozeki career on a winning note after absorbing a crushing blow at the faceoff. A former European junior champion in amateur wrestling, Kotooshu follows Hawaiian-born wrestlers Konishiki, Musashimaru, Akebono and Mongolian-born Asashoryu in becoming the fifth non-Japanese ozeki.
■ Auto racing
Magnaldi wins Stage 8
Thierry Magnaldi of France won the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally in Nouakcott, Mauritania on Saturday. Magnaldi, who also won stage six, clocked 5 hours, 56 seconds to claim his second stage victory of this year's race. American driver Marc Miller was 6 minutes, 52 seconds behind, as was another Frenchman, Stephane Peterhansel. Peterhansel's result allowed him to edge countryman Luc Alphand out of the overall lead. Alphand was 32 seconds behind, with South Africa's Giniel de Villiers third. Saturday's race was a 508km trek from Atar to Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott. The race starts up again today in the ninth stage to Kiffa. In the motorcycle category, Spain's Marc Coma maintained his overall lead, finishing fifth. The Dakar race takes more than 1,400 drivers, in 508 teams from more than 40 countries, on a 9,043km route from Lisbon, Portugal, to the Senegalese capital. Racers compete in cars, bikes, trucks and ATVs.
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
New Zealand yesterday reached 231-9 at stumps on a first day of the first Test against the West Indies shortened by rain after Justin Greaves triggered a middle-order collapse with the wicket of Kane Williamson. New Zealand tumbled from 94-1 to 148-6 on a bowler-friendly wicket after Williamson was dismissed for 52, his 38th Test half-century. Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith arrested the slide with a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith eventually fell for 23 and Bracewell for 47. After Matt Henry went for 8, Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy were both on 4 when bad light stopped play after 70
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