■SUMO
Fans object to Asashoryu pay
A retirement package proposed for former grand champion Asashoryu has angered some fans. The Japan Sumo Association is considering paying him US$1.2 million, local media reported yesterday. That’s a sum many Japanese see as too much for the Mongolian, who retired last week after a drinking session in which he reportedly hit a man and broke his nose. The allowance would be the second largest ever following that of former grand champion Takanohana, who received US$1.3 million. A golfing trip to Hawaii after his sudden retirement and reports that he is considering going into mixed martial arts have done little to garner sympathy for Asashoryu, who had a checkered reputation throughout his career. “When you consider all the problems he has caused, it’s hard to imagine he would get that much money,” office worker Tetsuya Moriyama said. “Sumo is part of Japanese culture and wrestlers have to be held to higher standards.”
■BOXING
Wife says Holyfield hit her
Evander Holyfield’s wife claims the former heavyweight world champion hit her after an argument over donations to their church. Candi Holyfield, the fighter’s third wife, said her husband hit her in the face, the back of the head and her back on the night of Feb. 1. “He said that I was being disrespectful,” Candi Holyfield said in a Feb. 3 court filing. “He started telling me that I needed to start putting God first in my life.” A magistrate judge signed a temporary order on Feb. 3 barring Evander Holyfield from being within 500 yards (457m) of his wife and children. Candi Holyfield said in the protective order that her husband had struck her before, citing several incidents. However, in a statement released on Thursday, Candi Holyfield praised her husband’s character. “I have been with this man for nine years and will be the first to say that he has many qualities and characteristics that I admire and respect,” she said.
■SOCCER
Atletico reach Cup final
Atletico Madrid set up a King’s Cup final against Sevilla when they went through 6-3 on aggregate despite conceding two late goals to lose 3-2 at Racing Santander in their semi-final second leg on Thursday. Atletico thrashed Racing 4-0 at the Calderon in the first leg but were rocked in only the second minute in Santander when Juan Valera headed into his own net. He made amends six minutes later when he burst into the penalty area and pressured Jose Moraton into diverting a Jose Antonio Reyes freekick past goalkeeper Mario Fernandez. Atletico’s Jurado snuffed out any hopes of a Racing comeback shortly after half-time when he exchanged passes with Sergio Aguero and curled the ball into the bottom corner. Christian Fernandez was sent off left after catching Atletico’s Ibrahima Balde in the face with a forearm and late goals from Racing’s Xisco and Mohamed Tchite were mere consolations.
■SOCCER
Fans threaten hunger strike
FK Moscow fans are willing to go on hunger strike to protest against the club’s pull out of the Russian Premier League after their main sponsor Norilsk Nickel withdrew its financing. “We have 20 supporters ready to go on hunger strike this Saturday. It’s our last chance to save our club,” head of FK Moscow’s fan club Vasily Petrakov was quoted as saying by local media on Thursday. Last week, Norilsk, the world’s biggest nickel and palladium producer, said they would no longer finance the team because it is too far from the company’s base in the city of Norilsk, 3,000km northeast of Moscow.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
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