Latest - This year's Men's World Team Squash Championship, originally scheduled to take place in Tauranga in December, will now be held in Malaysia.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Due to the current New Zealand travel restrictions in the Covid-19 environment it was decided New Zealand could no longer host the tournament.
With athletes representing multiple nations expected to compete at the Men's World Team Championship, the WSF Board, Squash New Zealand, and the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia - has made the decision to move the championships to Malaysia to mitigate against potential disruptions to the event.
The local Tauranga organising committee and Squash New Zealand have formally expressed their interest in hosting the 2023 version of the event, and the World Squash Federation are expected to make a decision next month on the 2023 host.
Chairman of the organising committee Wayne Werder said while it was disappointing the event could not be held in Tauranga as planned, the work the committee had put in should help with future bids.
"We have a fantastic team who have spent many hours behind the scenes, so it is immensely disappointing to not be able to host the event in December. However, the decision was made with the players in mind, and it is the right decision. It is great that Malaysia have been able to pick up the event, and hopefully our efforts so far will not go to waste as our bid for 2023 is well underway".
Breakers win at home
The Breakers have scored an emotional home coming victory beating the Sydney Kings 89-81 in their NBL game in Auckland.
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Six months on the road and 15 months since last playing in front of their home fans, the New Zealand Breakers returned to Auckland in style leading 51-39 at half time and led by 20 at three quarter time.
The Breakers made the most of playing at The Trusts Arena in front of 3800 fans by absolutely shooting the lights out. They went 10/15 in a phenomenal long-range performance in the first half and 14/27 from beyond the arc for the game.
Finn Delany continued his standout career-best season for the Breakers with another 28 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
"It was really good to play in front of the home crowd. There was a much different feel and energy to the game so that's definitely what did it for us," Delany said.
"It's a lot better feeling than losing. Losing games consecutive isn't a good feeling. It definitely feels good to get the win and we have to go back it up now for sure."
The Kings remain fifth on the table and the breakers Eighth with a 10 and 20 record.
The two teams meet again tomorrow in New Plymouth.
Bennett makes Giro podium
New Zealand cyclist George Bennett has finished third on the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia.
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Bennett was part of a four man breakaway but he was unable to stay in touch near the end of the 212km ride from Siena to Bagno di Romagna with Italian Andrea Vendramme taking the stage from Australian Chris Hamilton.
Bennett crossed the line fourth, but was promoted to the podium after Italian Gianluca Brambilla was demoted for swerving into the Kiwi in frustration that they were unable to compete for the stage win.
In post-race comments Brambilla criticised Bennett for not helping in the chase.
The peleton finished 10 minutes back with Colombian Egen Bernal retaining the tour lead.
Fellow New Zealander Patrick Bevin is 57th overall, an hour behind the leader.
Meanwhile fellow New Zealander Niamh Fisher-Black has also claimed a podium finish in the opening stage of a four-day tour in northern Spain.
Fisher-Black has finished third on stage one of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas, pipped on the line by Australia's Grace Brown and Swiss rider Elise Chabbey.
Phoenix say no flags please
The Wellington Phoenix have asked fans to refrain from taking national flags into their two New Zealand home games.
Tomer Hemed Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The request comes because of the growing unrest in the Middle East.
Israeli striker Tomer Hemed showed his support for his home nation after scoring twice in Wellington's draw with Melbourne City last weekend.
Hemed ran to a group of supporters in the terraces and draped himself in an Israeli national flag after his first goal and then placed a kippah, a traditional Jewish cap, on his head after scoring his second goal.
He was then yellow carded by the referee.
The club has said that only New Zealand and Australian national flags will be permitted to be displayed at either Sky Stadium tomorrow or Eden Park next weekend.
The club says they've taken the temporary measure out of respect for all nationalities currently caught up in the conflict.
Warriors slip in NRL standings
The North Queensland Cowboys have moved into the top eight of the NRL after beating the Newcastle Knights 36-20 in Townsville.
The Cowboys finished with three unanswered tries to overturn a 20-16 deficit early in the second-half.
The Knights had earlier scored four straight tries to take the lead after North Queensland captain Jason Taumalolo and fellow forward Lachlan Burr were sin-binned for high tackles.
The result drops the Wariors to 11th on the NRL ladder ahead of their match against the Wests Tigers in Gosford tonight.
Winger Ken Maumalo has been ruled out of the Warriors side, forcing coach Nathan Brown to shuffle his line-up.
Captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will take Maumalo's place on the wing with rookie Reece Walsh to start at fullback.
Ferrari top times in Monaco
Charles Leclerc led a surprise Ferrari one-two on the opening day of practice at the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix.
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Leclerc topped the second session, 0.112 seconds clear of Carlos Sainz despite missing virtually the entire first session with a gearbox problem.
Sainz was 0.278 seconds quicker than Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, who was 0.007secs quicker than title rival Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas was fifth, from McLaren's Lando Norris.
Leclerc's performance on his home track was especially impressive, as drivers say that track time is crucial in Monaco to allow them to build up the necessary confidence to push to the limit between the barriers.
-BBC
Dias named EPL best
Manchester City's Ruben Dias has been named England's Footballer of the Year in the annual vote of the Football Writers' Association, making him the first defender to win the award since Steve Nicol in 1989.
The 24-year-old Portugal centre back beat Totenham's Harry Kane and City team mate Kevin De Bruyne in the voting, with nine players from the Premier League winners receiving more than 50% of the total votes cast.
Dias signed for City from Benfica for a fee of $115 million in September, two days after the club had suffered a 5-2 home defeat by Leicester City.
The imposing defender has transformed City's back-line, forming a commanding partnership with John Stones which has helped the club to a third league title in four seasons under manager Pep Guardiola, in part thanks to the best defensive record in the league.
Dias is only the third player to win the honour in his first season at a club, following German Juergen Klinsmann of Tottenham Hotspur (1994-95) and Italian Gianfranco Zola of Chelsea (1996-97).
-Reuters
Tebow becomes a tight end with Jags
The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed former quarterback Tim Tebow as he looks to revive his NFL career as a tight end.
Tebow, who played in the NFL for three seasons with the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets between 2010-2012, switched careers to play minor league baseball in the New York Mets organization before retiring in February.
"I want to thank the Jaguars for the opportunity to compete and earn the chance to be part of this team," Tebow, who has not played in the NFL since 2012, said in a statement.
"I know it will be a challenge, but it is a challenge I embrace. I am dedicated to taking the direction of our coaching staff and learning from my teammates. I appreciate everyone's support as I embark on this new journey."
The move back to the NFL will reunite 33-year-old Tebow, a first round pick in 2010, with his former college coach Urban Meyer with whom he won two national championships.
-Reuters
