BASKETBALL
Lin to rejoin Ducks
Jeremy Lin is to rejoin the Chinese Basketball Association’s (CBA) Beijing Ducks after a failed attempt to make an NBA comeback, the 32-year-old said yesterday. Lin became the first Asian-American to win an NBA championship while playing with the Toronto Raptors in 2019 and signed for Beijing as an unrestricted free agent that year. He made a tearful departure from China after the COVID-19 pandemic saw the CBA suspended for almost five months, but now says he will return. “Beijing Ducks, excited to be back this upcoming season!” Lin wrote on Instagram. Lin has said he still harbored “NBA dreams” and played earlier this year for a Golden State Warriors development team, but emerged at the end of the season without a contract. “I gave my ALL and hold my head high,” Lin wrote last month after he failed to meet the NBA callup deadline.
SOCCER
Australia advance with win
Australia became the fourth team in FIFA’s Asia region to advance to the third stage of World Cup qualifying after beating Nepal 3-0 on Friday. Goals from Mathew Leckie, Fran Karacic and Martin Boyle in Kuwait City earned Australia Group B honors and a seventh win out of seven matches. They joined Japan, South Korea and Syria in the next round, scheduled to start in September. “We came here to do a job and haven’t finished yet,” Australia coach Graham Arnold said. “We’ve played seven games, [secured] 21 points and we’re striving to finish this off with eight wins.” China kept alive their hopes of adding to their sole World Cup appearance in 2002 by beating the Maldives 5-0 in Sharjah, Iran thrashed Cambodia 10-0, Iraq defeated Hong Kong 1-0, Vietnam beat Malaysia 2-1, the United Arab Emirates downed Indonesia 5-0, Saudi Arabia defeated Singapore 3-0 and Uzbekistan beat Yemen 1-0.
GOLF
Hedwall takes solo lead
Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall on Friday made history by becoming the first woman to hold the solo lead after a round of a European Tour event at the Scandinavian Mixed tournament. Austrian Christine Wolf had sat in a tie for the lead after the opening round, but Hedwall went one better on day 2. The 32-year-old made two eagles in a spectacular eight-under-par 64 in the second round in Gothenburg. Hedwall led by one shot on 13-under overall, ahead of Dutchman Joost Luiten.
CRICKET
Shakib smashes stumps
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has apologized after kicking over the stumps in a wild reaction to an umpire’s decision on Friday. In a Dhaka Premier League match, Mohammedan Sporting Club captain Shakib was bowling against Abahani Limited captain Mushfiqur Rahim, a fellow Bangladesh international. When Shakib’s appeal for LBW was denied by the umpire, he kicked at the stumps, uprooted them and threw them. He left the field because of a rain delay, but his side eventually won. “I am extremely sorry for losing my temper and ruining the match for everyone and especially those who are watching from home,” he wrote on Facebook after the match. “An experienced player like me should not have reacted that way, but sometimes against all odds it happens unfortunately.” Kazi Inam, the chairman of the body which runs the league, said that any disciplinary action would depend on the report of the umpires and match referee.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB