ADULTEROUS AFFAIR FORCES MISS JAPAN TO RELINQUISH CROWN
TOKYO. — The Ukraine-born winner of the Miss Japan beauty pageant has given up her crown after a tabloid report revealed her affair with a married man.
Karolina Shiino, 26, was crowned Miss Japan two weeks ago but her win sparked public debate due to her heritage.
While some welcomed the naturalised citizen’s crowning, others said she didn’t represent traditional Japanese beauty ideals.
Amid the furore, a local magazine published an expose alleging an affair.
The article in the Shukan Bunshun reported that Ms Shiino had engaged in a relationship with a married influencer and doctor. The man has not provided any public comment.
In its initial response to the report last week, the pageant organisers defended Ms Shiino, saying she hadn’t known the man was married.
However, on Monday, organisers said she had confessed to knowing about the man’s marriage and family.
She had apologised for being misleading and organisers had accepted her title resignation, the Miss Japan Association said.
Ms Shiino also apologised to her fans and the general public in a statement on Monday, where she said she had acted out of fear and panic in response to the report.
“I am truly sorry for the huge trouble I have caused and for betraying those who supported me,” she said.
The Miss Japan title will now remain vacant for the rest of the year, although there were several runner-ups.
The competition had crowned Ms Shiino on 22 January — the first person of European descent to be given the honour. She was born in Ukraine before moving with her mother to Japan when she was five and taking on her step-father’s Japanese last name.
She speaks and writes fluent Japanese and became a naturalised citizen in 2022.
Upon receiving the title, she had said in her speech: “I had not been accepted as Japanese many times, but I am filled with gratitude to have been recognized as Japanese today.” — BBC.
England came prepared for the usual trial by spin that greets touring sides in India but a “magical” seam-bowling masterclass by Jasprit Bumrah in Visakhapatnam saw their hopes of victory in the second Test vanish into thin air.
To deal with the expected conditions, England picked spinheavy attacks complemented by a lone fast bowler both in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.
The frequency with which their batters played the sweep shots also indicated their resolve to conquer the spin challenge.
And after their spinners accounted for 18 of India’s 20 wickets en route to winning the first Test, the tourists would have been anticipating another spinfest in Visakhapatnam.
What they probably did not expect is that Bumrah would emerge as their main threat despite having hardly any assistance from the pitches so far in the series.
Armed with an unorthodox sling-shot action and a reversing ball, Bumrah went wide off the crease to create angles and operated with pinpoint accuracy to torment the batters.
His 9-91 on a spin-friendly track saw him named Player of the Match, despite Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden double hundred.
Bumrah’s domination of England’s top batters particularly stood out in India’s series-levelling victory.
Joe Root has become Bumrah’s “bunny”, the England batter falling to the Indian for the eighth time in test cricket and prompting former England captain Alastair Cook to say he feared it had become a “mental game”.
But Bumrah saved his best for England vice captain Ollie Pope, whose match-winning 196 in Hyderabad is considered the best knock by a visiting batter in India.
The jaw-dropping yorker which splattered Pope’s stumps will be talked about for a long time.
The seamer also castled Ben Stokes with another delivery that prompted the England captain to drop his bat and shake his head in disbelief.
“Sometimes you can be critical of your own team ... But sometimes you also have to just doff your cap to the opposition and say they were touched by genius,” former England captain Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports.
“That spell from Bumrah in England’s first innings was genius,” he said, referring to Bumrah’s 6-45.
“I think, really, it was just the magic of Jasprit Bumrah that was the difference.”
Former captain Sourav Ganguly said India did not need turning tracks to win Tests at home when they have pacers of the calibre of Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who missed the first two tests with an ankle injury.
England, who are off to Abu Dhabi for a short break, are likely to wonder what Bumrah has up his sleeve for the third test in Rajkot, which begins on February 15. − Reuters.
AFTER disappointing a legion of fans in Hong Kong with a no-show on the pitch at the weekend, Lionel Messi left open the possibility of playing in Inter Miami’s friendly in Tokyo, saying he felt “much better” than he did a few days ago.
The Argentine’s benching for the highly-anticipated match in front of a sellout crowd at Hong Kong Stadium has turned into a public relations debacle for his Major League Soccer side and organisers of the local event.
Speaking to media for the first time since the team and their co-owner David Beckham were booed off the field, Messi said yesterday it was “disappointing” that he was unable to play, citing swelling in his adductor muscle.
“In Hong Kong, we had an opendoor training session and I went out because there was such a big crowd there and there was a clinic with the kids, and I wanted to be there and participate,” the 36-year-old told a press conference at a Tokyo hotel.
“But the truth is that the discomfort was still there and it was very difficult for me to play.
“I can understand that people were looking forward to it and I hope that there will be another opportunity for me to play in Hong Kong.”
The Inter Miami skipper, who led Argentina to a World Cup triumph in 2022, was coy about whether he would play in today’s friendly against J-League champions Vissel Kobe.
“For tomorrow, I don’t know, we’ll need to see how it goes in training today,” he added. “We still don’t know if I would be able to or not, but I feel much better than I did a few days ago and really want to be able to play.”
Messi spoke at the press conference alone after appearances by Beckham, coach Tata Martino and team mates Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez were cancelled at the last minute.
Unlike in Hong Kong, scores of tickets were still available a day before the Tokyo match, after going on sale in late December. − Reuters.
CHELSEA are refusing to press the panic button on boss Mauricio Pochettino’s future — despite a woeful season.
SunSport understands Poch’s job is safe, for now, as he prepares for an FA Cup fourth-round replay at Aston Villa today.
The Argentine, 51, who admitted no one is safe following Sunday’s 4-2 hammering by Wolves, is under pressure to turn the club’s fortunes around with fans’ favourite Jose Mourinho available.
Mourinho’s name was sung by Chelsea fans during the Stamford Bridge loss.
And the once ‘Special One’, who won three
Prem titles across two spells, is out of work after being sacked by Serie A side Roma.
Club insiders insist Chelsea’s hierarchy are very calm but they do have the determination that their expensive squad should qualify for Europe this season.
The Blues have lost their last two matches in spectacular fashion — conceding EIGHT goals.
Poch’s flops have slipped into the bottom half of the Premier League.
Now they need a positive result against high-flying Villa to stop the rot.
But Chelsea CAN make the Europa Conference League next term, if they win the Carabao
Cup final against Liverpool on February 25 at Wembley.
Chelsea fans booed the team off at half and full- time and even joined in with taunts about Pochettino’s future from the Wolves supporters as they turned on their manager.
Co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are concerned by recent form.
But they are not enough to sack the third chief of their two-year reign, at least for now.
Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter were axed previously for failing to get the best out of the squad which the owners have spent more than £1billion assembling. — The Sun.