7 Jul 2021

Today's sports news: What you need to know

10:32 am on 7 July 2021

Latest - Italy reached the Euro 2020 final after keeping their nerve from the penalty spot to edge Spain 4-2 in a shootout following a compelling 1-1 draw after extra time in London.

Federico Chiesa of Italy.

Federico Chiesa Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Jorginho coolly rolled the decisive kick past Spain keeper Unai Simon after Alvaro Morata had been thwarted by Gianluigi Donnarumma and Dani Olmo had blasted his effort over the bar.

Italy, who will play either England or Denmark in Monday's final at Wembley in their first showpiece since being thrashed 4-0 by Spain in Euro 2012, are looking to win the tournament for the first time since 1968.

Italy avenged their shootout defeat to Spain in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals and their resounding defeat in the Euro 2012 final, and completed a second straight European Championship victory over the Spaniards after their 2-0 win in the last 16 at Euro 2016.

Wembley's capacity was expanded to 60,000 and although coronavirus restrictions prevented fans from travelling abroad, the two countries' expatriate communities turned out to pack each end behind the goal and generate a scorching atmosphere, which heightened the sense of occasion between two titans of international football.

-Reuters

American sprinter won't compete at Olympics

American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson will not be selected to the U.S. 4x100-metre relay team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after she accepted a one-month ban for testing positive for cannabis.

Sha'Carri Richardson celebrates winning the Women's 100 Meter final on day 2 of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 19, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon.

Photo: AFP

The 21-year-old, who streaked to victory in the 100m at the U.S. Olympic trials in June, was expected to be one of the biggest draws at the upcoming Games in Japan.

Her supporters had hoped she could still compete in the relay event after the United States Anti-Doping Agency confirmed the suspension last week.

Richardson said in an NBC interview last week that she used the banned substance to cope with the death of her mother.

The women's 100m event in Tokyo starts on July 30, two days after her ban ends, but she is unable to compete in the event as her suspension wiped out her results at the trials. Selection to the relay team was her only remaining chance of competing at the Games.

-Reuters

Walsh wins in final Olympic buildup meet

New Zealand shot putter Tom Walsh has thrown a season best to win at a meeting in Hungary.

Tom Walsh

Tom Walsh Photo: Photosport

Walsh threw 22.22 metres to win at a second tier Continental Cup meeting in Budapest.

Walsh finished 45cm ahead of Croatian Filip Mihaljevic.

It is his fifth straight victory in his buildup to the Tokyo Olympics.

It is just the second time this year Walsh has thrown 22 metres and is his longest throw since 2019.

Olympic champion Ryan Crouser threw a world record 23.37 metres at the US Olympic trials last month.

Singh moves to Regensburg

New Zealand football player Sarpreet Singh will play for SSV Jahn Regensburg in the second division of German football next season.

Singh has been with champions Bayern Munich since 2019, playing mainly in their development team.

He was loaned out to Nuremberg last season, but only made 11 appearance.

The 22 year old made himself unavailable for the Olympics as he tried to secure his playing future in Europe.

Jochen Sauer, FC Bayern Campus director: "Sarpreet already familiarised himself with the demands of the second tier at Nürnberg last season, where he made his first appearances at a higher level. The plan now is for him to continue his development at this level in Regensburg in order to take the next step in his career."

Dragons sack party host

Australia prop Paul Vaughan has been sacked by St George Illawarra Dragons for breaching COVID-19 bio-security protocols after inviting 12 players to his house over the weekend.

Australian league player Paul Vaughan.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The NRL on Monday fined Vaughan $50,000 and issued an eight-game ban that would have ruled him out for the season, but the Dragons took further action on Tuesday by terminating his contract, which was due to run until the end of the 2022 season.

The NRL has only been able to operate with 'bio bubbles' in place, with players prevented from having visitors or leaving their homes except for games and training.

The 12 Dragons players who attended the party were given club-imposed sanctions on Tuesday, in addition to the one-match suspension and fines issued by the NRL.

-Reuters

No change on Giro d'Italia Donne

New Zealand cyclist Niamh Fisher-Black remains ninth overall after the fifth stage of the women's Giro d'Italia.

Fisher-Black finished in the peleton on the 120km flat stage that was decided by the sprinters.

Lorena Wiebes of the Netherlands won the stage.

Fisher-Black's SD Worx team continues to dominate the 10-stage tour with Anna van der Breggen leading from team-mates Ashleigh Mooland-Pasio and Demi Vollering.

Fellow New Zealander Mikayla Harvey is 29th overall. and Georgia Williams 79th.

The tour now heads into the hills.

Cavendish closes in on record holder

Mark Cavendish edged closer to Eddy Merckx's all-time Tour de France stage wins record when he claimed his third victory in this year's race.

Britain Mark Cavendish.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The Briton won a bunch sprint to take the 10th stage, a 190.7km ride from Albertville, to rack up his 33rd career win on the Tour, one fewer than Belgian great Merckx.

Cavendish, perfectly set-up by his Deceuninck-Quick Step team mates, beat Belgians Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen.

Slovenian Tadej Pogacar retained the overall leader's yellow jersey as he stayed safe in the leading peloton in a nervy finale in the Rhone valley.

He leads Australian Ben O'Connor by two minutes, one second and Colombian Rigoberto Uran by 5:18.

Tonight's 11th is a 198.9-km mountain trek in Provence, featuring a double ascent of the awe-inspiring Mont Ventoux.

-Reuters

England cricket hit by Covid cases

England Cricket selected an entirely new squad for their limited-overs series against Pakistan after three players and four staff members tested positive for Covid-19.

Two days before the series gets underway with the first of the three one-dayers in Cardiff, Ben Stokes was named captain of an 18-man squad which included nine uncapped players.

Seven members of the England party tested positive in Bristol on Monday, one day after the rain-ruined final match of a one-day series against Sri Lanka.

England are due to face Pakistan in three ODIs and three Twenty20 matches.

All-rounder Stokes has been out of international cricket since injuring his finger at the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year.

The ECB said it hoped some of the isolating players would be available to play the Twenty20 matches against Pakistan scheduled on July 16, 18 and 20.

Sri Lanka sent three of their players home from England last month after a video on social media showed them outside the designated team hotel in Durham in a breach of bio-bubble protocols.

-Reuters