■ SUMO
Veteran fined over discipline
A veteran sumo wrestler who attacked a junior grappler with a cooking instrument has been ordered to take a salary cut for his violent outburst. Toyozakura, whose ladle-wielding assault left the victim bleeding and needing eight stitches, will take a 30 percent pay cut for three months, Japanese sumo officials said on Thursday. The same punishment was meted out to gym chief Magaki for beating a junior wrestler with a bamboo sword in the latest in a series of incidents of bullying to tarnish sumo’s image.
The closeted sumo world is still reeling from the arrest earlier this year of a former gym chief on suspicion of assault following the death of a teenage wrestler.
■ FOOTBALL
London NFL tickets popular
The first 40,000 tickets for the NFL’s second competitive game in England sold out within 90 minutes of going on sale on Thursday. The seats for the Oct. 26 game between the San Diego Chargers and the New Orleans Saints at London’s Wembley Stadium were allocated to fans in a ballot. NFL UK said the pace of ticket sales matched that of last year’s game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants, which was the first regular-season NFL game to be staged outside North America.
■ SOCCER
Chelsea sacks Ten Cate
Chelsea assistant manager Henk Ten Cate was sacked on Thursday as the Dutchman became the latest victim of the Premier League club’s close-season clear-out. Ten Cate arrived at Stamford Bridge in October to work alongside manager Avram Grant and first-team coach Steve Clarke. But Grant was dismissed by Blues owner Roman Abramovich last weekend in the aftermath of Chelsea’s Champions League final defeat against Manchester United, and now Ten Cate — whose abrasive style upset several of the players — has been removed to make way for the new manager’s backroom staff.
■ ICE HOCKEY
Canucks rookie killed
Luc Bourdon, a promising rookie defenseman with the Vancouver Canucks and member of Canada’s winning world junior ice hockey championship teams in 2006 and last year, was killed on Thursday when his motorcycle struck a tractor-trailer in a crash near his hometown. He was 21. His death was confirmed by sister Eve Bourdon and stepmother Maryse Godin. Both declined further comment when reached at the family’s home in Shippagan, New Brunswick. Police wouldn’t confirm the identity of the victim, but said a motorcyclist was killed in the early afternoon on a road between Shippagan and Lameque.
■ SOCCER
Gretna relegated again
Gretna were relegated to the Scottish Third Division on Thursday after the crisis club was unable to guarantee it could fulfill fixtures next season. Gretna, who went into administration in March, were relegated from the Scottish Premier League this season and have now been demoted by two further levels after talks at the Scottish Football League’s annual general meeting. SFL chief executive, David Longmuir, confirmed that Airdrie will be promoted to Division One and Stranraer to Division Two. Gretna went into administration in March after owner Brooks Mileson, who is terminally ill, cut off his supply of cash to Gretna, which also saw them effectively relegated as they were deducted 10 points.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
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