■JUDO
No gold for Japan
Japan suffered an embarrassing world championship wipeout on Sunday when for the first time in 59 years their highly regarded men’s team failed to win a title. Their last hope, double world champion Yasuyuki Muneta, missed out on a medal when he suffered a third round loss to Mongolia’s Gankhuyag Dorjpalam in their over-100kg bout. The defeat completed a miserable downward spiral for Japan’s men’s team who until 1973 won all golds on offer at the world championships. France’s Teddy Riner went on to retain his title in the division, beating Cuba’s Oscar Bryson for gold. Uzbekistan’s Abdullo Tangriev and Lithuania’s Marius Paskevicius both took bronze medals. In the men’s under-100kg category, Kazakhstan’s Maxim Rakov took gold by scoring an ippon success over Dutchman Henk Grol with Japan at least picking up a bronze consolation through Takamasa Anai. Japan’s Maki Tsukada picked up a bronze in the women’s over-78kg division with the title going to Olympic champion Tong Wen of China, who beat Karina Bryant of Britain in the final by ippon.
■FORMULA ONE
FIA probes Alonso ‘incident’
Formula One’s governing body is investigating “alleged incidents” from a previous race, believed to be an accident at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix that helped Fernando Alonso secure victory for Renault. Brazilian TV station Globo reported on Sunday that Nelson Piquet Jr was ordered to crash into a wall at the night race so that teammate Alonso could take advantage of an early pit stop. Piquet Jr crashed heavily on the 13th lap and Alonso’s gamble to run a short 12-lap strategy before pitting paid off as the Spanish driver went on to score an unlikely victory. The FIA would not confirm that it was investigating that particular incident, only “alleged incidents at a previous Formula One world championship event.”
■MOTOGP
Lorenzo back in title chase
Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo claimed his third win of the season at the Indianapolis MotoGP on Sunday after championship leader Valentino Rossi and pole sitter Dani Pedrosa crashed. Lorenzo, winner of two of the first four races, crossed first at the famed Brickyard, 9.43 seconds clear of San Marino’s Alex De Angelis to jump back into the title chase as Yamaha team mate Rossi failed to finish for the first time this season. Rossi began the day with a 50-point advantage over Lorenzo but saw his lead slashed to 25 points with five races to run. The Italian rider’s involvement came to end on lap 9 when he hit the ground while battling Lorenzo for the lead.
■CRICKET
Owners angry over IMG split
High-profile owners of team franchises in the Indian Premier League have reacted furiously to the Indian cricket board’s decision to snap ties with event management company IMG, reports said yesterday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday terminated its contract with the International Management Group which helped it launch the lucrative Twenty20 league last year. Business tycoon Mukesh Ambani and Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, both owners of IPL franchisees, have shot off angry letters to the BCCI. “I am personally shocked at the unilateral decision of doing away with the services of IMG,” the Times of India quoted Ambani, who owns the Mumbai Indians team, as saying in his letter. “It is also worrying to me that such a significant decision in relation to IPL has been taken without even so much as consulting the franchises.”
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered on Wednesday as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs. Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who on Monday claimed their first National League East title in 13 years. Coupled with the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NL Division Series. The Phillies owned the tiebreaker with the Brewers after winning the season series against the
Olympic bronze medalist Lee Meng-yuan has become the first Taiwanese athlete to top the International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) men’s skeet world rankings, while top Taiwanese shooters won golds in each of yesterday’s finals in Taoyuan. Lee’s 6,610 points put him ahead of fellow men’s skeet medalists from the Paris Olympics Americans Vincent Hancock and Conner Prince. Lee on Monday said that he was surprised by the result, although he had expected his ranking to rise after the Games, which was also the first time a Taiwanese athlete had competed in men’s skeet. Despite topping the rankings, Lee said he believed Hancock, who