Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Tasman thrashed a winless Southland side 51-14 in Blenheim on Sunday to move to the top of the NPC Premiership standings.

The home side were ahead 39-7 at halftime.

Timoci Tavatavanawai and Leicester Fainga'anuku both dotted down twice in the seven-try, bonus-point win with Macca Springer, Levi Aumua and Regan Ware also crossing the try line.

Marty Banks and Solomon Alaimalo scored Southland's tries.

The next test for Tasman is a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawke's Bay on Saturday.

Lawson loses outright DTM lead

Young New Zealand driver Liam Lawson has company at the top of the German touring car (DTM) championship standings.

South African Kelvin van der Linde (Audi) has won the opening race of the championship's penultimate round at Hockenheim to draw level on points with Lawson.

Lawson (Ferrari), 19, finished fourth, less than two seconds off a place on the podium that would have kept him in the overall lead.

Van der Linde and Lawson are 23 points clear of German drivers Marco Wittmann (BMW) and Maximilian Gotz (Mercedes).

There's another race at Hockenheim on Sunday night.

The final two races of the championship are at the Norisring in Nuremberg next weekend.

Former NBA player joins Breakers

The Breakers have signed American guard Jeremiah Martin as their third import for the upcoming NBL season.

The former NBA player effectively replaces Tall Blacks guard Tai Webster, who was released from his contract because of his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Martin has played for the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers in the past two seasons and joined the Atlanta Hawks for the Summer League in August.

"He's a multi-dimensional player, a good defender, can defend multiple positions, can play with the ball and without the ball; that's why he fits us," Breakers coach Dan Shamir said.

There is now just one local spot to be filled on the Breakers roster.

The NBL season is scheduled to start on November 18.

Tall Ferns finish Asia Cup campaign on a high

The Tall Ferns have finished fifth at the Asia Cup after beating Chinese Taipei 74-59 in the 5th/6th place classification game in Amman, Jordan.

Dominant displays from Kalani Purcell (12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals) and Penina Davidson (26 points and 7 rebounds) ensured New Zealand would get the better of a team ranked two places above them (#36) on the world rankings.

The Tall Ferns led 38-29 at halftime and 49-32 heading into the final quarter.

New Zealand finished one place short of their goal.

A top four finish would have secured the Tall Ferns a place at the World Cup qualifying tournament.

China will meet Japan in the Asia Cup final.

Coll and King make fast start to US Open

New Zealand squash players Paul Coll and Joelle King have safely advanced to the third round of the US Open in Philadelphia.

Coll, the newly crowned British Open champion, made short work of Frenchman Victor Crouin in his opening match.

The third seed prevailed in straight games, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5.

Coll will now face Egyptian Karim El Hammamy in the third round.

King, the women's sixth seed, also won her second round opponent Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam in straight games.

She took the first 14-12 and then ran away with the match 11-7, 11-4.

King play India's Joshna Chinappa for a place in the quarterfinals.

Fox jumps up the leaderboard in Scotland

Ryan Fox has fought back to make the 54-hole cut at the European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.

The New Zealand number one has carded a four-under 68 in the third round round to jump from a share of 100th place to a tie for 48th at two-under par.

Fox is still 12 shots behind the leader, England's Danny Willett.

Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, produced an impressive bogey-free round of six-under 66 to sit three shots clear of the field.

Fellow New Zealanders Josh Geary and Denzel Ieremia have finished well outside the cut-line.

Geary has finished in a share of 123rd at five-over par, two shots ahead of Ieremia.

FIFA to investigate US. Women's Soccer League

World football's governing body has launched a preliminary investigation in the wake of a report detailing allegations of misconduct against former North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley.

FIFA said it is "deeply concerned" about allegations of abuse in the sport in the U.S. National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

The Athletic has had outlined allegations of sexual coercion and misconduct by Riley, who led the Courage to back-to-back NWSL championships in 2018 and 2019, after speaking to more than a dozen players he coached since 2010.

"Due to the severity and seriousness of the allegations being made by players, we can confirm that FIFA's judicial bodies are actively looking into the matter and have opened a preliminary investigation," FIFA said in a statement.

"As part of this, FIFA will be reaching out to the respective parties, including US Soccer and NWSL, for further information about the various safeguarding concerns and allegations of abuse that have been raised."

Riley, who has reportedly denied any wrongdoing, was terminated by the Courage and the league. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

- Reuters

Stensness' switch yet to be confirmed

Socceroos Graham Arnold has said he will not force anyone to play for Australia over other nations as he revealed Gianni Stensness has yet to receive official clearance to complete his switch from New Zealand.

Stensness declared last week his intention to change allegiance to Australia having represented New Zealand at the Olympic Games - a move All Whites coach Danny Hay called a "kick in the guts".

The Australia-born 22-year-old, who was eligible to play for New Zealand through his father, was not included in Hay's 21-man squad for October friendlies against Curacao and Bahrain and decided to represent Australia at senior level, New Zealand Football said.

Administrative delays have kept the defender out of the Australian squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers against Oman and Japan, but Arnold revealed he had been in discussions with Stensness - a near-neighbour in Sydney - for some time.

"I spoke to him three days ago and we're still waiting for the paperwork from FIFA for his clearance that he can play for Australia," said Arnold.

"It's very fortunate that he lives in the same area as me and we caught up and we've had those discussions about him playing for Australia and he's chosen to play for Australia."

- Reuters

Brit wins maiden women's Paris-Roubaix

Britain's Lizzie Deignan rode to a landmark victory in the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes as rain, mud and crashes made it a memorable debut for the world's best female riders over the infamous cobbled course.

The former world champion produced a dominant ride over the 115.6km course and held off a powerful late surge by Dutch great Marianne Vos to win by one minute and 17 seconds.

"I feel incredibly proud," Deignan, who adds the maiden Paris Roubaix to her other notable triumphs including last year's Liege-Bastogne-Liege, said.

"Women's cycling is at this turning point, and today is part of history. It proves the appetite for women's cycling and that the riders can do one of the hardest races in the world."

"Today I was the third rider (in the team) and I had to be in the front at the first cobbled section to protect my leaders. But then I saw there was a gap so I just kept going."

The debut for the Paris Roubaix Femmes race and for a women's Tour de France next year are seen as steps forward in the long battle for gender equality in professional cycling, although there remains a long way to go.

While Sunday's men's race over a longer distance boasts a total prize pot of 91,000 euros, the women's race has only 7,505 euros with Deignan receiving 1,535 euros - about 1/20th of what the winner of the men's race will take home.

- Reuters