A high school baseball manager created a controversy for resting its ace pitcher in the prefectural final in late July. The school’s failure to reach the prestigious national tournament sparked a debate across Japan on whether a team should put a pitcher’s health ahead of its victory.

Rui Hachimura became the first player from Japan to be selected in the first round draft of the National Basketball Association with the ninth pick by the Washington Wizards in New York on Thursday. His mother is Japanese and his father is from the West African nation of Benin.

Tennis star Naomi Osaka won a dramatic Australian Open final on Saturday after missing three championship points in the second set. Her two straight grand slam titles ensure that she will rise to the new world number one.

Los Angeles Angels’ starting pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani won the American League Rookie of the Year on Monday. The two-way star earned 25 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Twenty-year-old Naomi Osaka won her first Grand Slam singles title on Saturday after defeating Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 in the final of the U.S. Open. The match will be remembered for the way Williams clashed with the chair umpire, who issued her multiple penalties for receiving coaching, smashing her racket, and then calling him a “thief.”

The 78-year-old chairman of the Japan Amateur Boxing Federation admitted to his relationship with a former head of a gang for over half a century. He has been accused of improper conduct including forcing referees to fix the outcome of matches.

The association of college American football in the capital and the surrounding area on Tuesday decided to expel the former head coach and assistant coach of a university team in Tokyo. The body determined that the two ordered the defensive player to crush the opposing quarterback in a dangerous foul play earlier this month.