Latest - The Melbourne Storm have produced a comeback to down the Sydney Roosters 27-25 in a golden point epic in the NRL in Brisbane on Thursday night.
Cameron Smith Photo: Photosport Ltd 2018 www.photosport.nz
With the scores locked at 24-all, Rooster Luke Keary landed a field goal from 35 metres out with 40-odd seconds of regular time to go.
The Storm got the ball back and Ryan Papenhuyzen levelled it up with a shot of his own from the same distance.
Extra-time went the Storm's way. Cameron Smith, who started the game in the halves for the first time since round 13 of 2014, signed off a strong night with a penalty in golden point to clinch the win.
NBL Showdown tightens up
The Nelson Giants inflicted a second straight loss on the Canterbury Rams in the Sal's NBL Showdown at Trusts Arena on Thursday night - the Giants winning 97-89.
Mika Vukona Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Mike Karena, playing against his former club, was in dominant form for the Giants amassing 27 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Taylor Britt came alive in the fourth quarter to lead the Rams effort with 20 points.
The result tightens up the NBL ladder with the top six teams separated by just a single win.
In the earlier game the the Franklin Bulls beat the Otago Nuggets 85-79.
Meanwhile,Tall Blacks star Mika Vukona will remain sidelined for the coming week at least after suffering from acute stomach pain that has led to tests for appendicitis.
The Nelson Giants number one draft pick had been going through on-court conditioning since being released from quarantine following his recent flight from Australia.
The Giants plan to have him back out on court in the build-up to finals.
Djokovic tests negative for Covid-19
World tennis number one Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena have tested negative for Covid-19, nine days after returning a positive test.
Novak Djokovic Photo: Photosport
Djokovic, along with Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki, tested positive after playing in the Adria Tour, an exhibition tournament organised by the 17-times Grand Slam champion.
The tournament witnessed packed stands during the opening leg staged at Djokovic's tennis complex in Belgrade from June 13-14, with players hugging at the net, playing basketball, posing for pictures and attending press conferences together.
The second leg was held in Zadar from June 20-21.
The players did not break any Serbian or Croatian government protocols, as neither country required the athletes to maintain any social distancing
However, Djokovic, who was heavily criticised for staging the event, issued an apology, saying he was extremely sorry for the harm that had been caused.
- Reuters
Revised World Rally Championship schedule released
World Rally Championship (WRC) organisers have cancelled Argentina's postponed round while announcing the season, halted by the Covid-19 pandemic, would re-start in Estonia in September.
It will be the first time Estonia, home of reigning world champion Ott Taenak, has featured on the WRC calendar. The short-format gravel rally based will be based around Tartu.
The revised schedule sees Turkey following on from Estonia on 24 to 27 September.
Germany's round will be 15 to 18 October, with Italy (Sardinia) on 29 October to 1 November after being postponed from June while Japan is scheduled to end the season in mid-November.
Rallies in Belgium and Croatia could also feature with talks ongoing.
The championship completed three rounds in Monte-Carlo, Sweden and Mexico before the new coronavirus sent countries into lockdown.
Six times world champion Sebastien Ogier leads the standings for Toyota.
FIA rally director Yves Matton said he was confident there would be a minimum of eight rallies this year.
- Reuters
Russia athletics federation misses payment deadline
Russia's suspended athletics federation has missed the 1 July deadline to pay millions of dollars to World Athletics, putting on hold the chances of its track and field athletes being able to compete internationally as neutrals.
World Athletics, the sport's global governing body, in March handed the federation a $14.5 million fine for breaching anti-doping rules.
World Athletics at the time reinstated the process by which Russian athletes could apply to compete internationally as neutrals after demonstrating that they train in a doping-free environment.
It said, however, that this process would again be suspended if half of the fine was not paid by July 1.
The Russian federation told TASS agency on Thursday that the fine had not been paid, a day after the federation's president said it did not have sufficient funds to do so.
World Athletics said the Doping Review Board, which reviews Russians' applications to compete internationally, and the Russian Taskforce overseeing the federation's reinstatement efforts were standing down until the issue was discussed at a meeting of its Council later this month.
The federation was suspended in 2015 after a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found evidence of mass doping among track and field athletes in the country.
- Reuters
