BASEBALL
Ramirez joins Cubs as coach
Former MLB superstar slugger Manny Ramirez will join the Chicago Cubs as a player-coach for the team’s top developmental club, the Iowa Cubs, general manager Theo Epstein said on Sunday. Ramirez, a lifetime .312 hitter with 555 home runs over 19 seasons, has not appeared in the majors since his five-game stint with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011 ended when he retired after failing a second doping test. In 2009, Ramirez was suspended for 50 games after failing a doping test while with the Los Angeles Dodgers. “I know I am nearing the end of my playing days, but I have a lot of knowledge to pass on to the next generation, both what to do and what not to do,” Ramirez said. Epstein knows Ramirez from their glory days at the Boston Red Sox, when Epstein was general manager for most of Ramirez’s Boston run from 2001 to 2008, during which the Red Sox won the 2004 and 2007 World Series. Yet Epstein made it clear that a majors comeback is not in the cards for the 41-year-old, saying: “While Manny is not and will not be a fit on the Cubs major league roster, we do think at this stage of his life he’s a nice fit as a mentor for some of the young talented hitters we have in the organization.”
RUGBY UNION
Japan book World Cup spot
Japan qualified for next year’s rugby union World Cup by thrashing Hong Kong 49-8 in Tokyo on Sunday, claiming a seventh Asian Five Nations title in the process with their 28th consecutive bonus-point win. Japan’s win upheld their record of appearing in every World Cup to date and they will join South Africa, Samoa, Scotland and the US in Pool B of the 20-team tournament to be be hosted by England next year. Hong Kong can still join them despite their loss at the National Olympic Stadium since they finished second in the standings, but they must first come through the four-team repechage. They will face Uruguay in the semis and, if they win that, either Russia or an African team in the final for the last place in Pool A alongside hosts Wales, Australia and Fiji or the Cook Islands.
ICE HOCKEY
Russia beat Finland in final
Star forwards Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin scored eight minutes apart to lead Russia to a 5-2 victory over Finland in the final of the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships on Sunday for their second title in three years. With Russian President Vladimir Putin looking on, Ovechkin tied the game at 2-2 in the second period with a backhand, before Malkin wristed a shot high into the roof of the net on a power play for the go-ahead goal. Danis Zaripov also scored and added two assists, while Viktor Tikhonov and Sergei Shirokov had one goal each. Earlier, Sweden beat the Czech Republic 3-0 to claim the bronze.
BADMINTON
Japan win first Thomas Cup
Japan clinched their maiden Badminton World Federation Thomas Cup on Sunday after beating Malaysia 3-2 in a hard-fought final. Takuma Ueda’s 21-12, 18-21, 21-17 win over Daren Liew sealed the win for Japan, who were playing in the final for the first time. Malaysia took the lead through world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, who scored a comfortable 21-12, 21-16 win over fourth-ranked Kenichi Tago, before Japan restored parity via doubles pair Tan Boon Heong and Hoon Thien How. The debutants then took the load through former world junior champion Kento Momoto, who took just 39 minutes to dispose of Chong Wei Feng 21-15, 21-17. Malaysia won the second doubles to draw level at 2-2, but Ueda kept his cool to deny Malaysia a sixth title.
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she sustained an abrasion on her left hip and that something “stabbed” her when she crashed during her second run of an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing. Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point, I just
CLASH OF MANAGERS: Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler and Russell Martin of Southampton accused each other of disrespect, while both were booked Southampton on Friday were denied a priceless victory by a controversial decision as they drew with hosts Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 in the Premier League. Kaoru Mitoma spectacularly headed Brighton into a first-half lead and Flynn Downes hammered home an equalizer an hour in. Minutes later teammate Cameron Archer converted a cross from Saints substitute Ryan Fraser. A video assistant referee check of more than four minutes eventually decided that Archer was onside, but then penalized Adam Armstrong, who was offside, but did not touch the ball, for interfering with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. “I find it hard to accept,” Southampton manager Russell Martin
Mary McGee, a female racing pioneer and subject profiled in an Oscar-contending documentary, Motorcycle Mary, has died, her family said. She was 87. “McGee’s unparalleled achievements in off-road racing and motorcycle racing have inspired generations of athletes that followed in her footsteps,” her family said in a statement. The family said McGee died of complications from a stroke at her home in Gardnerville, Nevada, on Wednesday, the day before the release of the short documentary Motorcycle Mary, on ESPN’s YouTube channel. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was an executive producer on the film, which became available globally on Thursday. Its premiere
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