BASKETBALL
Conley added to All Stars
Mike Conley is to be one of the oldest first-time All Stars in NBA history after the 33-year-old Utah Jazz player on Friday replaced Devin Booker in today’s annual showcase event. For the past several years, the Jazz guard has been considered one of the NBA’s best players to have never been chosen to play in an All Star game. He was added to Team LeBron as an replacement for Phoenix Suns player Booker, who has an injured left knee.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Warriors face long road trip
The New Zealand Warriors are back on the road again as COVID-19 restrictions in New Zealand and Australia mean the team are to play their National Rugby League season in Australia until at least the middle of June. They are to be away from their families in New Zealand for four months, adding to the five months they were away last year while playing all of their matches in Australia. The Warriors have not played a match at their home Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland since Aug. 30, 2019. If restrictions allow, they could return to their home venue on June 21 — nearly 22 months after their previous game at there. Their return to New Zealand after the fifth round of the season was contingent on a “bubble” opening between the countries so they could fly in and out for games without isolating. However, that now appears to be happening later than originally hoped because of new COVID-10 outbreaks in Auckland. “On that basis, we’ve had discussions with the NRL and our players and staff about delaying our return to ensure we have some continuity for the first 15 rounds of the competition,” Warriors chief executive Cameron George said on Saturday. “Clearly this hasn’t been the outcome we wanted, particularly after being away from home for the entire 2020 season.”
FOOTBALL
Brady card sets record
A Tom Brady rookie card sold for a record-setting US$1.32 million in an online auction at PWCC Marketplace on Thursday, marking the most ever paid for a football card. James Park, a longtime Brady fan who lives in Boston, bought the autographed 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket card, one of 100 in existence. “I lived in Boston for 10 years and so am a huge fan of Brady. The last Super Bowl win was just a mind-blowing accomplishment,” Park told ESPN. The sale of the card smashed the previous record for the most spent on a football card after a buyer last month purchased an autographed 2017 National Treasures Patrick Mahomes card for US$861,000.
MOTORSPORT
FIA releases crash report
Formula One’s governing body on Friday said that Romain Grosjean’s Haas car crashed into barriers at 192kph and with a peak force of 67G before bursting into flames at last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The car split in two, with the front half penetrating the barrier before catching fire at the start of the Nov. 29 race. The 34-year-old Frenchman Grosjean, whose left foot was initially trapped, said afterward that he thought he was going to die, but willed himself out of the wreckage for the sake of his children. The report said that a fuel tank inspection hatch on the left side of the chassis was dislodged and the engine fuel supply connection was torn from the fuel tank safety bladder. “Important learnings have been drawn from these investigations that will drive our continuous mission to improve safety in Formula One and global motor sport,” FIA president Jean Todt said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite