Latest - The New Zealand men's netball side will play their Australian counterparts in two curtain-raisers during the Constellation Cup in October.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Netball New Zealand announced on Wednesday the two teams would meet prior to the first test between the Silver Ferns and Diamonds in Auckland, as well as the third test in Melbourne.
In what was a first for both teams, the opening match would be included in the live broadcast ahead of the women's test.
The news came after the New Zealand men's impressive performance in last month's Cadbury Series.
They scored two clinical wins over the Silver Ferns, including a 67-48 victory in the final.
"There is always a strong rivalry between New Zealand and Australia on a netball court, and we're thrilled to be able to work with Netball NZ to bring this match to the New Zealand public, said New Zealand Men's and Mixed Netball Association president Junior Tana.
"Being able to showcase the men's game and our skills on the international stage is a privilege and we're looking forward to building on from the success in last month's Cadbury Netball Series against the Silver Ferns."
Tana said members of the national men's team would compete at the men's Nationals in Christchurch later this month before coming together for the trans-Tasman series against Australia.
Woods got billion dollar offer to join LIV
Tiger Woods turned down a sum in the region of $1-1.3 billion to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, the breakaway circuit's CEO Greg Norman has said.
Norman said the offer was made before the Australian was named chief of the controversial series, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
Tiger Woods speaks to the media during a press conference prior to the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club on August 7, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. Photo: AFP
"That number was out there before I became CEO. So that number has been out there, yes," two-times major winner Norman said to Fox Sports.
"Look, Tiger is a needle mover, right? So, of course you're got to look at the best of the best. They had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO. That number is somewhere in that ($700-800 million) neighbourhood."
LIV Golf has signed several marquee players for the series, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, but 15-times major champion Woods has stayed committed to the PGA Tour.
Former world number one Woods said before last month's British Open that he disagreed with the decision by players to join the LIV Series and compared the circuit, which features huge guaranteed contracts and a 54-hole format, to the senior Champions Tour.
-Reuters
Hamilton buys into NFL
Seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has joined the ownership group of the National Football League's Denver Broncos.
Britain's Hamilton, who drives for the Mercedes F1 team, is the latest to join the Broncos ownership after former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The Broncos and the Walton-Penner family, led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, in June entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the takeover of the team in a deal reportedly worth $4.65 billion, a record for an American sports franchise.
The Broncos are three-times Super Bowl champions.
-Reuters
Griner asks for leniency
American basketball player Brittney Griner shared personal photos and her defense team asked a Russian judge for leniency as her trial for drug possession approaches closing arguments this week.
US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner sits inside a defendants' cage before a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on July 27, 2022. Photo: AFP / Alexander Zemilianichenko
Griner, 31, pled guilty to all charges and took the stand to explain the circumstances that brought her before the judge.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time WNBA All-Star faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted after being found in possession of vape cartridges containing cannabis oil at a Moscow airport in February.
The trial was adjourned today until closing statements on Thursday. A prison sentence is expected to be handed down Friday.
Negotiations to include Griner and another American imprisoned in Russia, Paul Whalen, in a prisoner swap are not progressing, per reports. Legal experts suggest Russian officials are not likely to entertain the swap proposed by the United States until Griner is convicted.
-Reuters
Red Bull extend deal with Honda
Red Bull have extended their power unit support agreement with Honda until the end of the 2025 season after the Japanese manufacturer's departure from Formula One.
Max Verstappen Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Honda withdrew from F1 at the end of 2021 after powering Max Verstappen to his maiden world championship, winning a drivers' title for the first time since the late Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna triumphed with McLaren in 1991.
The Austrian outfit set up their own powertrain company to use Honda's intellectual property to provide power units for their main Red Bull Racing Formula One team and Italy-based sister team AlphaTauri.
The partnership was initially intended to last until the end of 2023, with Red Bull set to take over the operation, but will now run until the end of 2025, when the sport introduces the next generation of power units.
Red Bull are currently leading both Formula One championships by a comfortable margin, with Dutch driver Verstappen heading for a second straight world title.
Honda, which left as a constructor in 2008, announced last year its departure from F1 as an engine manufacturer at the end of 2021 to focus on zero-emission technology.
-Reuters
England to try and play in Pakistan
England will tour Pakistan in September for the first time in 17 years to play seven Twenty20 and three test matches.
England pulled out of their Pakistan tour last year soon after New Zealand had abandoned their tour of the South Asian country over security concerns.
Beginning on Sept. 20, England will play seven Twenty20 Internationals in Karachi and Lahore in the first leg of their tour.
After the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, England will return to play three tests in December.
-Reuters
No more signs at Ajax games
Ajax Amsterdam have banned fans from bringing signs into Johan Cruyff Arena asking players for their shirts after matches.
The club have told the Ajax supporters association that they had noticed an increasing number of such signs at games, mostly being held by children.
It was no longer possible for the players to fulfil all the requests and when players walked by without handing over a shirt they were often criticised as arrogant, the club said.
The cardboard being used also posed a fire hazard, the club said, and several signs were confiscated on Saturday when the stadium hosted the season-opening Super Cup match between Ajax and PSV Eindhoven.
-Reuters
Chinese golfer retires
China's first major winner Shanshan Feng has announced her retirement from professional golf, saying she wanted to "slow down a little" and spend more time with her family.
Rio2016 Photo: AFP
Feng became the first player from her country, male or female, to win a major with her victory in the Women's PGA Championship in 2012, five years after she earned an LPGA Tour card.
Feng won 10 LPGA titles and attained the world number one ranking in 2017.
The 32-year-old also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics but was unable to get onto the podium in Tokyo last year, finishing eighth in her last competitive appearance.
Feng, who is currently working in a coaching role with the women's national team, added that she wanted to help nurture the next generation of Chinese golfers.
-Reuters
