Wrestler, whose real name is Mikiya Ishioka, triumphs in Osaka to secure Emperor’s Cup despite injuring his ankle the previous day
The ancient Japanese sport of sumo is celebrating a new hero, after Takerufuji became the first wrestler for more than a century to win a top-division tournament on his debut.
There were wild celebrations at the Edion Arena Osaka on Sunday after he ended the 15-day contest with an unassailable record of 13 wins and two defeats.
Continue reading...A rally car veered off the road and crashed into a group of spectators in Hungary on Sunday, killing four and injuring several others, police said.
The accident occurred during a race between the towns of Labatlan and Bajot near the Danube River in northwest Hungary, the Komárom-Esztergom County police said in a statement.
Continue reading...Last-minute decision on Tuesday’s match leaves football bodies searching for alternative venue
North Korea has abruptly cancelled its 2026 World Cup qualifying match with Japan next week, leaving organisers frantically searching for an alternative venue.
North Korea reportedly decided it would no longer host the match, which had been scheduled for next Tuesday at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, a day before the teams met in Tokyo on Thursday in the first of their two Asian qualifying Group B qualifiers.
Continue reading...Three members of the British para-cycling track team were robbed of their silver medals and other possessions in a mugging after the opening day of the world championships in Rio de Janeiro.
Lora and Neil Fachie, who are both double Paralympic champions, and pilot Corinne Hall were left shaken but otherwise unharmed by the incident, which occurred as they made their way back to their accommodation in the Brazilian city.
Continue reading...David Crisafulli’s stance means the multi-billion dollar Victoria Park plan recommended by Graham Quirk on Monday is dead
Queensland’s 2032 Olympics will not be held in a brand-new stadium, with both major parties now ruling out the Victoria Park and Gabba rebuild options.
The opposition leader, David Crisafulli, broke his four-day silence on Thursday, promising there will be no new stadium. The LNP leader also ruled out cancelling the Games.
Continue reading...The interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, the biggest star in baseball and one of the most famous people in Japan, has been fired after lawyers for the player said there had been a “massive theft” from the slugger’s account.
ESPN reported that several sources said Ippei Mizuhara had run up large debts to a Californian bookmaker. Initially a spokesperson for the player said Ohtani had transferred $4.5m to cover Mizuhara’s debts. But when ESPN asked further questions, the spokesperson backed away from their claim and said Ohtani’s lawyers would soon make a statement.
Continue reading...Waltham Forest council has not yet found suitable location for statue that was completed in 2020
The first photographs of the dormant sculpture of the Bayern Munich and England striker Harry Kane have been published, five years after it was commissioned. The statue has sat in storage because Waltham Forest council in east London has been unable to find a suitable location for it.
The sculpture of the Walthamstow-born, Chingford-raised record goalscorer for Tottenham and England was completed in 2020 at a cost of £7,200, but has yet to appear in public.
Continue reading...Effigy recovered in 2009 after being thrown into Osaka river by jubilant fans but is in poor state and will be disposed of
A plastic statue of Kentucky Fried Chicken’s founder, Colonel Sanders, that was a lucky charm for superstitious Japanese baseball fans has been “disposed of” 15 years after being dredged out of an Osaka river.
Jubilant supporters of Osaka’s Hanshin Tigers, known for being Japan’s most passionate baseball fans, flung the effigy – and themselves – into the Dotonbori River in 1985 after winning Japan’s version of the World Series.
Continue reading...Saudi Arabia is likely to host the 2034 tournament, but a Guardian investigation has revealed there are already a high number of ‘unexplained’ migrant worker deaths in the Gulf kingdom
Human rights organisations are warning that another World Cup will be tainted by the deaths and suffering of low-paid workers if Fifa does not take urgent steps to ensure that Saudi Arabia deals with the widespread abuse of its migrant workforce.
As the sole bidder, Saudi Arabia is almost certain to be anointed by Fifa this year as host of the World Cup in 2034, but rights groups said “workers cannot afford a repeat of Qatar 2022”.
Continue reading...The Japanese star is considered one of the most talented players in history. Now he finds himself in an unfamiliar role as a cultural ambassador
The sport is American, the venue South Korean. But when the LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres open the Major League Baseball season with two games in Seoul this week, all eyes will be on a Japanese superstar: Shohei Ohtani.
It says much about Ohtani’s singular appeal that South Korean baseball fans are as excited about his imminent presence in the batter’s box at Gocheok Sky Dome as his legions of admirers in Japan.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
Continue reading...A second Australian men’s cricket series against Afghanistan in as many years has been postponed due to the country’s poor record on human rights for women and girls.
Australia had already cancelled a one-day international series to be played in the United Arab Emirates in March 2023 due to “a marked deterioration” in the treatment of females in the country.
Continue reading...Boxing great Roberto Durán was receiving medical care for a heart problem, the family of the 72-year-old Panamanian said Saturday.
Durán, who was a champion in four different weight classes, “has suffered a health complication due to an atrioventricular blockade”, his family said in a statement on Durán’s Instagram account.
Continue reading...Alex Chalk urges local council where racing festival takes place to stop granting licences to such venues
The presence of pop-up strip clubs at Cheltenham is making women feel “threatened and intimidated” at one of Britain’s biggest race festivals, the justice secretary has said.
Alex Chalk, the MP for Cheltenham, challenged the local council to stop granting licences to so-called sexual entertainment venues (SEVs).
Continue reading...Train maker Alstom plans fast service skirting Birmingham as Ryan Reynolds’ football club takeover reaps in ever more benefits
Direct trains could next year connect Wrexham to London, with a new service capitalising on the town’s Hollywood-meets-football mini-boom.
The train manufacturer Alstom is bidding to set up the Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway with a promise of cheaper, more comfortable trains straight to London.
Continue reading...Thomas Costello, who at 6ft 4in is same height as Jack Andrews, says ‘people in weighing room looked at me like I had four heads’
You don’t come across many lofty figures in the weighing rooms of the UK’s racecourses but two jockeys standing at a (relatively) towering 223cm (6ft 4in) will rub shoulders when the Cheltenham festival begins on Tuesday.
Jack Andrews, 25, from Warwickshire, rose to fame last year when he was billed as the tallest jockey in the world during his appearance at the festival, but this week has a rival for the title – Thomas Costello, from County Clare in Ireland.
Continue reading...Former Socceroo says he made a mistake and is ‘very pleased to be able to learn’ that ‘racism can only be perpetrated against a marginalised person or group’
Former Socceroo Craig Foster has apologised to Sam Kerr for criticising the Matildas captain after it was revealed she allegedly called a police officer in the UK a “stupid white bastard”.
Foster in a lengthy explanation on X stated he had been mistaken in thinking that any “discriminatory, demeaning or hostile” comment made referring to “any colour” was racism.
Continue reading...Digital ads for 8XBet inserted into matches played by clubs that rejected money from gambling companies
An offshore gambling company that breached Australian law and was forced to withdraw from the country has paid the national football league to promote it overseas.
The Australian Professional Leagues has digitally imposed ads for the gambling company, 8XBet, on to international broadcasts of A-Leagues matches. The company’s logo can be seen in 10 locations simultaneously during some games.
Continue reading...Celebrity plan to turn a much-loved retro cinema into a sports bar faces stiff opposition from thousands of angry movie goers
In central St Andrews, the New Picture House (NPH) independent cinema, with its 1930s facade and distinctive pointed roof towering above nearby restaurants and houses, has stood relatively unchanged for the past 94 years.
Open every day of the week and boasting three screens, the category B listed building has showed blockbusters and independent films, as well as plays, community events and festivals, for the best part of a century.
Continue reading...Questions asked over the place of protest in professional sport after Hurricanes Poua team in Wellington changed the lyrics for their haka just before a game
A row over the role of protest in professional sport has erupted in New Zealand after a women’s rugby team called the coalition government “rednecks” during a pre-match haka.
The Hurricanes Poua – the women’s rugby union team for Wellington – added lyrics to their haka just before their Super Rugby Aupiki match against the Chiefs Manawa in Hamilton on Saturday.
Continue reading...Set up to honour the Australian national team cyclist killed by a car, the group was behind the successful A Metre Matters campaign
The Australian cycling safety advocacy body behind the successful A Metre Matters campaign is being wound up after federal government funding was discontinued.
The Amy Gillett Foundation was established in 2006 after the death of Gillett, a former Olympic rower who had switched to track and road cycling. The 29-year-old was training with the Australian national team in Germany when she and her teammates were hit by a car.
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