Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Two-time Olympian Natasha Hansen won't attend next year's Tokyo Games after deciding to leave Cycling New Zealand's elite track programme.

The three-time Commonwealth Games medallist said she was leaving the programme to take a break from the sport after suffering from injuries and health issues in recent times.

"I would like to thank Cycling New Zealand and the coaching staff over the years for their guidance and support, and I wish the team well in their preparations for Tokyo and beyond."

Hansen leaves the programme as one of its longest serving and most experienced members, having been the first international level female sprinter to be recruited in its ranks.

She won three Commonwealth Games medals on the Gold Coast in 2018, had two World Cup podiums, won the 2018 Japan Cup (Keirin) and also claimed numerous Oceania and National titles.

Silver Ferns defender injured

Netball New Zealand have confirmed 24-year-old Michaela Sokolich-Beatson won't feature in the Cadbury Netball Series after rupturing an achilles tendon for the second time in just nine months.

Sokolich-Beatson ruptured her left achilles at Ferns training on Monday night, the same injury she suffered to her right achilles back on the Ferns tour to England in January.

The Northern Mystics player travelled home to Auckland on Tuesday for further assessment and treatment.

Sokolich-Beatson was set to play for NZ A during the Cadbury Series, which started on Tuesday and featured the Silver Ferns, the NZ A team, the NZ under-21 side and the NZ men.

White Ferns ready for Big Bash

There will be 11 New Zealand players involved in the women's Big Bash League in Sydney, with four of them providing injury cover for teams.

White Ferns all-rounder Hayley Jensen is a late signing with the Hobart Hurricanes, while Katie Perkins, Lauren Down, Holly Huddleston and Rosemary Mair will train alongside their allocated teams to provide injury cover while they're in the 'WBBL hub' in Sydney over the next month.

The majority of the White Ferns stayed in Australia following their recent Rose Bowl series in Brisbane.

There are injury concerns for two of them with Adelaide Strikers batter Suzie Bates and Melbourne Renegades bowler Lea Tahuhu both under injury clouds.

The women's Big Bash starts this weekend with the entire competition being played around Sydney.

AFL fans told to not party

Officials in Victoria have warned football-mad fans in locked-down Melbourne not to throw parties during the AFL's "Grand Final" on Saturday to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The AFL Grand Final, the championship match of the top flight of Australian Rules, is one of the country's biggest sporting occasions, with people flooding pubs and backyard barbecues to watch the game.

Saturday's decider between defending champions Richmond Tigers and the Geelong Cats will have a different mood this year, with pubs and restaurants closed in Melbourne and people banned from visiting friends and families at their homes.

The Grand Final is being played at the Gabba in Brisbane and away from Melbourne for the first time in its history, because of Covid-19.

-Reuters

Pumas out of quarantine today

Argentina's home-based players will move out of quarantine in Australia today, allowing consultant Michael Cheika to work more closely with the group as they build towards the Tri-Nations series.

The squad arrived in Sydney from a training camp in Uruguay on Oct. 6 and will now be able to resume normal training under head coach Mario Ledesma and former Wallabies coach Cheika.

Argentina were due to open their tournament against world champions South Africa on Nov. 7, but the latter's withdrawal from the competition over player welfare concerns has given the Pumas an extra week to prepare for a clash with New Zealand.

Argentina's European-based players only arriving in Australia this week and head directly into 14 days of quarantine.

Argentina are hoping to have three friendly matches before meeting the All Blacks in Sydney on Nov.14.

-Reuters

Auckland to host Tonga-Samoa game

Auckland will host the 2021 women's Rugby World Cup qualifying game between Tonga and Samoa next month.

The match at Trusts Arena in Waitakere on Nov.14, will be a part of the triple header including New Zealand Defence Services and Police, New Zealand Black Ferns and Barbarians fixtures.

The Tonga-Samoa game was postponed in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tonga were withdrawn from last November's Oceania Championships in Fiji after the entire squad was quarantined because of a measles outbreak in the Pacific islands.

World Rugby then gave Tonga a second opportunity to qualify for the tournament with the playoff against Samoa but that match was called off due to the pandemic.

The winner will qualify for next year's tournament in New Zealand.

-RNZ/Reuters

Murray remains in doubt

The Scottish tennis player Andy Murray has suffered another injury setback and has pulled out of this week's ATP Tour event in Germany due to a lingering pelvic problem, raising doubts over his participation for the remainder of the year.

Murray returned from a second hip surgery in January 2019 to win the Antwerp title seven months later - his first since 2017 - raising hopes of a return to the top echelons of men's tennis.

But the 33-year-old again suffered complications with his hip following the Davis Cup in November and only returned to the circuit after the lengthy COVID-19 pandemic break.

Murray played the first of back-to-back events in Cologne, where he was knocked out in the first round by Fernando Verdasco last week.

He said he was suffering from tendonitis in his left psoas, the muscle which connects the lower back to the top of the leg.

Murray, whose ranking has slipped to 116th in the world, did not clarify if he would seek a wildcard in the ATP Masters event in Paris in two weeks and the subsequent event in Bulgaria.

-Reuters