TENNIS
Madrid organizers apologize
Madrid Open organizers yesterday apologized after not allowing the women’s doubles finalists to make speeches after the match at the tournament last week. Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff in the women’s doubles final on Sunday, but were not given a microphone to let them address the crowd. “We sincerely apologise to all the players and fans who expect more of the Mutua Madrid Open tournament,” Madrid Open chief executive officer Gerard Tsobanian wrote in a statement on Twitter. “Not giving our women’s doubles finalists the chance to address their fans at the end of the match was unacceptable and we have apologised directly to Victoria, Beatriz, Coco and Jessica.” Tsobanian said that the tournament was working with the WTA to improve their process. “We made a mistake and this will not ever happen again,” he wrote.
ATHLETICS
Nijel Amos to sell medal
Nijel Amos on Tuesday said he is selling Botswana’s first Olympic medal, his 800m silver from the 2012 London Games, to help support his family after he received a three-year doping ban last week. The Athletics Integrity Unit said it banned Amos for three years on Wednesday last week after an out-of-competition test detected a banned metabolite in his urine sample. The ban was reduced from four years after Amos signed an admission. “At this time, my only investment or pension is the famous 2012 Olympic silver medal,” Amos told reporters in Botswana. “I am in touch with different stakeholders, including financial advisors, on how that can sustain me and my family.”
SOCCER
Rapids suspend player
The Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer on Wednesday suspended midfielder Max Alves for an alleged connection to an illegal sports gambling plot, the Denver Post and ESPN reported. Alves, a 21-year-old native of Brazil, is under investigation by prosecutors in his home country for being associated with match-fixing, the reports said. One of those matches reportedly was a Rapids game, and Alves allegedly was paid by match-fixers who asked players to shift their performance to the benefit of sports bettors. No charges had been announced against Alves as the investigation — which is reportedly centered around 16 people, including seven players — is ongoing. “We are aware of the reports regarding a Colorado Rapids player in connection with unlawful sports gambling,” the team said in a statement.
OLYMPICS
Two Japanese sentenced
Two Japanese businessmen yesterday were handed suspended prison sentences in the latest convictions in a bribery scandal surrounding the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Shigeharu Hisamatsu, a 64-year-old former executive at advertising firm ADK Holdings, received a sentence of 18 months, suspended for three years, a Tokyo District Court spokesman told reporters. His former assistant, 61-year-old Toshiaki Tada, was given a sentence of one year, also suspended for three years. The pair did not contest charges during their first hearing in March that they bribed a Tokyo Olympics committee member, Japanese-language media reported.
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
RSS