Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - The Wellington Phoenix men's team had their first full training session today following the outbreak of Covid-19 in their camp 10 days ago.

17 players were hit by the pandemic which reduced training last week to just five players and some of the coaching staff including coach Ufuk Talay.

That meant their games against Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory were postponed.

Their last game was their win over Melbourne City in the FFA Cup quarter-finals on January 5th.

Their next game is scheduled to be an A-League clash with Western United in Wollongong on Friday night.

"We're trying to slowly build them up (this week), we're not wrapping them in cotton wool as we need to expose them to a certain level of intensity at the same time as they need to play a 90 minute game on Friday, but at the same time we're also mindful of what they've come out of," said Talay.

New signings Gael Sandoval and Scott Wootton could debut in that game on Friday.

Pulse secure replacement for Fakahokotau

The Pulse have recruited defender Courtney Elliott for the upcoming ANZ Premiership season replacing Temalisi Fakahokotau who has stepped away from netball for the upcoming season.

After making a stellar start to her career when she played for the Southern Steel in 2018 and 19, which included being the starting goalkeeper in the grand final-winning team against the Pulse in her first year, and a season with the Northern Mystics in 2020, Elliott's fortunes stalled.

Unable to secure a contract last year, Hamilton's Elliott opted for a change of scenery and has been plying her trade for the Northern Mendi Rays out of Townsville in the semi-professional Queensland State League.

"Getting the call-up from the Pulse was the perfect surprise and really exciting,'' said the 23 year old.

"I'd put feelers out for this season in New Zealand but nothing really came out of that, so I'd just planned on playing another Rays season here (Townsville). The Rays have been really, really supportive and it's been a great experience.''

Elliott has been successful in securing a spot in managed isolation and will fly to New Zealand on February 1 which means she will be out of quarantine in time for all the Pulse's pre-season matches.

Djokovic could return to Melbourne next year

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has left the door open for Novak Djokovic to compete at next year's Australian Open despite the tennis superstar facing an automatic three-year ban from entering the country.

The world number one player left Australia late on Sunday after the Federal Court upheld the government's decision to cancel his visa, capping days of drama over the country's COVID-19 entry rules and his unvaccinated status.

Under immigration law, Djokovic cannot now be granted another visa for three years unless the Australian immigration minister accepts there are compelling or compassionate reasons.

"I'm not going to precondition any of that or say anything that would not enable the minister to make the various calls he has to make," Morrison told 2GB radio as Djokovic was en route to Dubai.

"It does go over a three-year period, but there is the opportunity for [a person] to return in the right circumstances, and that will be considered at the time."

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge Federal Court bench dealt a final blow to Djokovic's hopes of chasing a record 21st Grand Slam win at the Australian Open, which started today, dismaying his family and supporters.

-Reuters

Ireland win series

Ireland has won their one-day series against the West Indies after a two-wicket win in the third and final game at Sabina Park.

Andy McBrine's four wickets helped contain the hosts to 212 in 44.4 overs.

McBrine then scored 59 as the Irish reached their target in the 45th over to take the series 2-1.

It is Ireland's first away one-day international series win over an International Cricket Council full member.

Ireland's hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup were boosted by the series victory as the games were part of the World Super League competition which counts towards automatic qualification for the tournament in India.

-BBC

Breakers grab second win

The Breakers have won their second game of the Australian basketball league season, grinding out a 82-75 win over the Sydney Kings.

The Breakers trailed for much of the game, but after hitting the lead for the first time with 2:48 left, they closed it out with a strong defensive display.

Top scorer for the Breakers was Jeremiah Martin with 22 while Finn Delany finished with 21, which included a crucial three pointer inside the last 90 seconds.

The Breakers now have a two win, seven loss record.

The Breakers next play Tasmania on Wednesday night.

Tasmania are second to bottom on the ladder above the last placed Breakers, who lost the first six games of the season.

Perth top the standings with Melbourne United second and Illawarra third.

Phoenix women rue poor defence

The Wellington Phoenix women's team has blown a big chance to post its first win of the A-League season.

The team led 2-nil after 25 minutes against Brisbane in Woollongong, with goals coming from Alyssa Winham and Grace Jale.

But they conceded three goals to lose the match 3-2, with the final one coming from the penalty spot, three minutes in the 87th minute.

The loss keeps the Phoenix at the bottom of the table with one draw and six losses.

Archbold and Wollaston criterium honours in Christchurch

WorldTour cyclist Shane Archbold and rising star Ally Wollaston grabbed the honours in the Criterium National Championships in Christchurch.

Archbold scored his first win back with the Bora Hansgrohe team, saving his run until three laps out and outsprinting the outstanding mountain biker Ben Oliver and in-form Nick Kergozou for the victory.

Meanwhile Wollaston saved her renowned sprint kick until the home straight to score a photo finish victory in the women ahead of Georgia Danford and Olympian Nicole Shields.

21-year-old Wollaston became a two-time criterium national champion after winning in Christchurch in 2020, and had to settle for runner-up last year which fired her to push for the victory this year.

Wollaston will return to Europe with her professional team again this year, after she targets the Grassroots Trust Elite Road National Championships in Cambridge next month, with eyes on selection for the Commonwealth Games.

Europe-based professional Danford (Auckland), twice on the podium in this event, sprinted home for second ahead of Cambridge-based rising track star, Shields.

In the men's race Ben Oliver, Nick Kergozou and Archbold made it to the front with the WorldTour rider's class proving too much.

Robinson achieves 7th place finish at Super-G World Cup

New Zealand Alpine Ski Racer Alice Robinson has continued with her great form this week, finishing in 7th place at the Zauchensee Super-G World Cup

The course was challenging but Robinson attacked it with aggression and speed. Her first two splits were -0.04 and -0.18 up on leader Federica Brignone of Italy. As the pitch steepened up she lost some time but kept her form and finished just +0.53 behind winner Federica Brignone.

Corinne Suter (SUI) finished in second place and Ariane Raedler (AUT) in third, +0.04 and +0.17 behind Brignone respectively.

A"I am really happy with that; I think I skied really well. I just had a couple spots where I got a little bit pushed and I lost some time but 7th is still a really good result and I was only a 10th of a second off fourth place so heading in the right direction," Robinson said.

This is another fantastic result for the 20-year-old ski racer, once again proving she is incredibly capable in the speed disciplines alongside the technical discipline of Giant Slalom where she has had three World Cup wins in her career.

Robinson will be next competing on January 23 in the Cortina d'Ampezzo Super-G World Cup. Thanks to her two second-place Downhill finishes earlier this week she is likely to have the opportunity to attend the Downhill training days in the days prior so she will be more familiar with the course before her race.

Robinson has been selected to the team to represent New Zealand at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games.