Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus and Germany's Tim Puetz are through to mens doubles third round at the Australian Open.

They've comfortably beaten Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain and Hugo Gaston of France 6-1 6-4 in 69 minutes.

Venus and Puetz didn't concede any break points in the match and managed a high first serve percentage of 73%.

Venus' compatriot Marcus Daniell couldn't match that success though.

He and Danish partner Freddie Nielsen lost 6-1 6-2 to the second seeds American Rajeev Ram and Great Britain's Joe Salisbury.

Two Kiwi golfers hunting glory in American tournaments

Mixed days for New Zealand golfers in tournaments in the US today.

Steve Alker's right up with the leaders after two rounds of a Champions Tour event in Hawaii.

He fired a five under 67 to be 11 under for the tournament, just one shot off the pace being set by major winners Ernie Els of South Africa and Fihji's Vijay Singh and Canadian Stephen Ames.

On the LGPA tour, Lydia Ko's tied for ninth after the second round of the season-opening Tournament of Champions event in Florida.

She fired a one under today, to be five under for the tournament, five shots behind leader Nelly Korda.

But, Danny Lee's not faring as well at the latest PGA event in California, dropping from a tie for third to be 43rd, halfway through the tournament.

-RNZ

Sargent double helps Norwich climb out of relegation zone with win at Watford

American Josh Sargent's first goals in English football helped Norwich City earn a crucial 3-0 victory at Watford today, a win that moved Dean Smith's side out of the Premier League relegation zone for the first time this season.

Following a poor first half for both sides, Sargent's stunning flicked finish six minutes after the break gave the visitors the lead as he opened his Premier League account in style.

Following a bizarre break in play as several floodlights went out, Sargent's night to remember continued as he drilled in from distance to double his side's advantage in the 74th minute.

Watford's bad luck continued as Emmanuel Dennis was sent off four minutes later after collecting his second yellow card. The hosts' miserable evening was complete when Juraj Kucka's stoppage-time own goal handed the visitors a 3-0 win.

Norwich's fourth win of the season lifted them to 17th with 16 points from 22 matches. Watford dropped to 18th, with 14 points from 20 games.

Meanwhile All Whites striker Chris Wood's latest English Premier League club Newcastle United is now second to bottom in the standings, while his former club, Burnley, is sitting last.

-Reuters

The Wellington Phoenix men have ignited their A-League campaign with a 2-1 defeat of 10-man Western United in Wollongong.

Mexican import Gael Sandoval netted on debut and English star Gary Hooper joined him on the scoresheet in the first half, helping the Nix snap a four-match losing streak to leap off the foot of the ladder.

Steven Lustica scored an injury-time consolation for United, despite Tomoki Imai seeing red for a last-man foul on Ben Waine in the 89th minute.

All eyes were on how the teams would end long COVID-enforced layoffs at WIN Stadium, with Wellington out of action for 16 days and United back for the first time since Boxing Day.

The Phoenix showed their sharpness, pouncing on defensive lapses to build a winning buffer.

Western stay third and look forward to next weekend's derby against Melbourne City, while Wellington jump to eighth ahead of an FFA Cup semi-final with Melbourne Victory.

Meanwhile the Phoenix women suffered their seventh straight defeat, with an own goal giving Adelaide United a 1-0 win.

The Phoenix went behind in the 68th minute when Zoe McMeeken was credited with the last touch.

Seifert helps Brave into home final

Northern have secured a home final in the men's Super Smash after beating Canterbury by eight wickets in Christchurch.

With both teams having their Black Caps playing, Canterbury scored 173-6 which Northern chased down in the last over with Tim Seifert hitting an unbeaten 88.

It was Northern's seventh straigtht win and they can't be overtaken at the top of the table.

In the women's game, Amy Satterthwaite stole the show with a phenomenal 114, the second highest score ever in New Zealand Women's Domestic T20 Cricket.

She helped Canterbury to a 24 run victory over Northern, which moves them up to third in the standings.

Proteas take ODI series

Opener Janneman Malan scored 91 as South Africa chased down a victory target of 288 for a comfortable seven-wicket win over India and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series after the second One-Day International at Boland Park.

India chose to bat in sweltering conditions, with the mercury rising above 40 degrees Celsius for much of the day. The visitors posted 287 for six in their 50 overs, which looked a good total on a slow wicket that should have favoured them.

But South Africa paced their reply superbly, with Malan and fellow opener Quinton de Kock (78 from 66 balls) putting on 132 for the first wicket.

Malan, who now has three hundreds and three fifties in his 12 ODI innings, put on another 80 with captain Temba Bavuma (35) before he was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah, the ball deflecting onto the stumps off his elbow.

The home side, who won the first ODI by 31 runs, reached their target with 11 balls to spare.

-Reuters

Teams pull out of World Cup qualifying

Hong Kong and Samoa have pulled out of qualification tournaments for this year's women's World Cup in New Zealand due to "insurmountable logistical challenges" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hong Kong were due to participate in the Asia Rugby Women's Championship which would act as a feeder event for the final qualification tournament in Dubai, but they will no longer be travelling due to Hong Kong's lockdown restrictions.

Samoa, who were heading directly to the final qualifiers, were facing challenges on re-entry including a six-month return moratorium for anyone who tests positive outside the country, which contributed to their decision to withdraw.

With the Asia Rugby Women's Championship no longer taking place, World Rugby has revised the format for the final qualification tournament.

Kazakhstan and Colombia will now play in a semi-final on Feb. 19, with the winner facing Scotland on Feb. 25 for a place at the World Cup in New Zealand, which will be held from Oct. 8 to Nov. 12.

-Reuters

SA Apologises for treatment of women and girls

Swimming Australia has apologised for its treatment of women and girls in the sport after the findings of an independent panel that looked into allegations of sexual misconduct made by double Olympic silver medallist Madeline Groves.

The report was commissioned last June after Groves pulled out of the Australian trials for the Tokyo Olympics, saying her withdrawal should be a lesson to "perverts... and their boot lickers" who exploit, body-shame and "medically gaslight" young women and girls.

Groves' explosive allegations led other swimmers to speak out, with former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jenny McMahon saying that the sport suffered from a "toxic and dysfunctional" culture.

The panel's report listed 46 recommendations including doing away with skin-fold tests - a method to determine body fat percentage - and the term "physique".

The panel, which gathered information from more than 150 participants, also urged SA to commit to "never again selecting an all-male team for national and international competitions", adding that a minimum number of women coaches must be included.

The report also addressed SA's complaints mechanism, recommending a character test be used when selecting coaches and support staff.

-Reuters