SUMO WRESTLING
Wrestler contracts virus
A Japanese sumo wrestler has tested positive for COVID-19, increasing the likelihood that next month’s Summer Grand Sumo Tournament, which has already been delayed, is to be further postponed. The wrestler, whose name has not been disclosed, developed a fever last week, but none of his stablemates and no officials have experienced symptoms, the Japan Sumo Association said yesterday. At the spring tournament, which was held last month in Osaka without spectators, wrestlers had to adhere to strict guidelines to avoid becoming infected.
MLB
Yankees top ‘Forbes’ list
Forbes estimates that the New York Yankees are baseball’s most valuable franchise at US$5 billion, up 9 percent from last year and 47 percent more than the No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers at US$3.4 billion. The Yankees are second among all sports to the Dallas Cowboys, listed at US$5.5 billion in the latest NFL ranking, Forbes’ evaluations showed. The magazine estimates that the value of the average MLB team rose 4 percent from last year, the smallest annual appreciation since 2010.
E-SPORTS
Stars to join charity event
Players from 20 of Europe’s most historic soccer clubs are to compete in the Stay and Play Cup, Electronic Arts announced on Thursday. The online charity event, scheduled to run from Wednesday until April 19, is to feature stars from FIFA 20, including Ajax, AS Roma, Liverpool and Real Madrid, the organizer said. The Cup expects to donate US$1 million to Global Giving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. “Millions of fans can experience the thrill of their favorite clubs and professional footballers playing — even when we have to be apart,” Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson said.
NHL
Player’s wife seeks miracle
Edmonton Oilers center Colby Cave on Thursday remained in a coma in a Toronto hospital with his family saying that it will take a “miracle” for him to pull through. The team and Cave’s wife, Emily, updated his condition two days after he was placed in a medically induced coma following surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing bleeding on his brain. “It’s all I can keep asking: ‘He’s going to wake up right?’ We need a miracle,” Emily Cave wrote on Instagram. The forward was at home outside Toronto on Tuesday when he suffered overnight bleeding.
MMA
‘Thug Rose’ out over deaths
The manager of Rose Namajunas said that the former UFC strawweight champion would not fight at UFC 249 after two deaths in her family related to the pandemic. “Her hopes are to return to the Octagon as soon as possible,” Brian Butler wrote on Instagram on Thursday. UFC president Dana White later that day announced that the event due to take place on Wednesday next week at an unannounced location had been canceled. On Wednesday, the New York Times had reported that White planned to hold the event on tribal land, which would have skirted state restrictions on sporting events due to the coronavirus. Namajunas — known among fans for her shaved head and “Thug Rose” nickname — became the third strawweight champion in UFC history when she upset Joanna Jedrzejczyk in November 2017.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
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