CRICKET
Pune fixing probe launched
The International Cricket Council has launched a probe after a curator in Pune, India, was caught in a television sting operation allegedly promising to manipulate the pitch ahead of yesterday’s second one-dayer between India and New Zealand. Pandurang Salgaonkar has been suspended, but the match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium began on schedule after match referee Chris Broad cleared the pitch. India Today TV showed Salgaonkar allegedly telling their undercover reporters — who posed as bookies — he could manipulate the pitch and sharing information about the playing surface in violation of the anti-corruption code. The Indian cricket board has sought a detailed report from the local host. New Zealand, who clinched the first one-dayer in Mumbai by six wickets, won the toss and elected to bat hoping to win the three-match series with a game to spare.
FORMULA E
Nissan to join next season
Nissan is to become the first Japanese car manufacturer competing in Formula E with an entry in the fifth season of the electric car racing series, organizers announced yesterday. Formula E said in a statement that Nissan would replace one of the existing manufacturers next season. Media reports have indicated that is to be alliance partners Renault, allowing the French manufacturer to focus on its Formula One team. “It’s great to see our first Japanese manufacturer entering the frame, showing truly how global the electric revolution is. Japan is a country at the forefront of new technologies with one of the biggest followings of Formula E,” Formula E chief executive Alejandro Agag said in a statement.
GOLF
Matsuyama to rub shoulders
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama has accepted the chance to play golf with US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next month, the world No. 4 said yesterday. Trump is to visit Japan from Nov. 5 to Nov. 7 and the game with Matsuyama has been scheduled on the first day at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe near Tokyo. Matsuyama said he felt undeserving when he was contacted, but accepted the surprise request to tee off with the two world leaders as it was a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. “I wasn’t sure if I’d be good enough,” Matsuyama was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency. “I hope to have fun so that it will be engraved in my memory. I’ll do my best not to lose [against Trump].”
SOCCER
Israel decries Italian racism
Israeli Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev has asked her Italian counterpart to crack down on racism after SS Lazio supporters littered a stadium with images of Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank wearing a jersey of city rivals AS Roma. Regev’s office says a letter dispatched to Luca Lotti called the display “despicable” and accused thousands of Lazio fans of openly identifying with neo-Nazi symbols. She wrote that calling Roma players “Jews” inferred they were a “scourge to be avoided.” The Italian soccer federation has said a passage from Frank’s diary will be read aloud at all matches in Italy this week to be combined with a minute’s silence before Serie A, B and C matches to promote Holocaust remembrance.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
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