Sport

Today's sports news: What you need to know

14:39 pm on 2 December 2020

Latest - Real Madrid's hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 for a 24th consecutive season hang in the balance after they were beaten 2-0 by Shakhtar Donetsk.

Zinedine Zidane Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The 13-time European champions are third in Group B with one game to play.

Zinedine Zidane's side have also failed to win their last three La Liga matches.

Madrid host group leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach in their last game next week.

Teenager Curtis Jones grabbed a 58th-minute winner as an injury-hit Liverpool qualified for the knockout stage with a 1-0 Group D win over Ajax Amsterdam at Anfield.

FC Porto joined Manchester City in advancing to the next phase after the two played out a goalless draw in Portugal.

Champions Bayern Munich dropped their first points as they drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid.

Fiji rugby team finally on the move

Fiji will finally leave their French motel after almost a month of isolation tomorrow when they head to Scotland for their weekend Autumn Nations Cup clash against Georgia.

France prop Demba Bamba runs with the ball during a training session on 11 November, before their test with Fiji was called off. Photo: AFP

It will be the first outing for the Pacific islanders after scheduled group matches against France, Italy and Scotland were all cancelled after almost the entire squad and management were infected with Covid-19, days before their scheduled opening game last month.

They have since spent their time cloistered in a motel north of St Etienne, first in isolation before returning to full training at the start of the week.

"It was a great feeling to see the boys out on the field training, having fun throwing the ball around, even if the temperature was minus four degrees," coach Vern Cotter told The Independent newspaper.

Fiji will meet Georgia at Murrayfield in the clash to avoid the competition's wooden spoon.

The match goes ahead after the Fiji party were given the all-clear. At the height of the infectious outbreak, 22 players and seven management staff from the 46-strong party tested positive at the same time.

It will be New Zealander Cotter's first match in charge after being appointed coach at the start of the year.

-Reuters

Snedden back at the helm of NZ Cricket

Former chief executive and Black Caps international Martin Snedden has been elected as New Zealand Cricket's new chair.

Martin Snedden has been elected chair of New Zealand Cricket having previously been the organisation's CEO. Photo: Photosport

Former chief executive and Black Caps international Martin Snedden has been elected as New Zealand Cricket's new chair.

Snedden will fill the role vacated by Greg Barclay, who has stood down from the position after being elected chairman of the International Cricket Council.

Snedden is a former CEO of New Zealand Cricket and has also been a board member for several years.

He will become New Zealand's representative on the ICC board.

Snedden will now stand down from his role as consultant lead of the One Cricket project, a three-year initiative aimed at reviewing and improving the delivery of cricket throughout the country.

Maradona's psychiatrist has offices and home raided

Argentine investigators have raided the premises of Diego Maradona's psychiatrist in the latest twist in a probe into the football legend's death last week.

Files have already been seized from his personal doctor.

Maradona's pyschiatrist was part of a medical team that treated the football star after he underwent neuro surgery early last month.

Maradona's lawyer has demanded an investigation into the circumstances of the football star's death criticising what he said was a slow response by emergency services.

-Reuters.

Hamilton to miss F1 race

Seven-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss this weekend's Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain, the first time he has had to sit out a race in his F1 career.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The Briton, Formula One's most successful driver of all time with a record 95 race wins and 98 pole positions, was isolating with mild symptoms but otherwise fit and well, his Mercedes team said in a statement on Tuesday.

Hamilton wrapped up his record-equalling seventh title in Turkey last month and picked up his 11th win of the season in Bahrain on Sunday. Mercedes have already won the constructors' title for an unprecedented seventh year in a row.

By missing Sakhir, the penultimate race on the calendar, Hamilton will not be able to match the record for the most wins in a single season.

Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel share that mark with 13.

Coll rises to world high

The Greymouth squash player Paul Coll has become the first New Zealander since Ross Norman in 1989 to reach the top four of the World Men's Rankings.

The 28-year-old, reached the final of the Qatar Classic last month before falling to World No.1 Ali Farag, and rises a spot from No.5, with Karim Abdel Gawad going the other way.

Farag, who returned to World No.1 on November 1, retains that spot after winning his second Qatar Classic title, while fellow Egyptians Mohamed El Shorbagy and World Champion Tarek Momen complete the top three.

Three unbeaten teams in Ford Trophy

Canterbury, Northern Districts and Otago are all two from two in the Ford Trophy one day cricket competition.

Canterbury are on top after beating Wellington for a second time following a seven wicket victory in Rangiora.

Northern Districts beat defending champions Auckland by six wickets in Whangarei and Otago beat Central Districs by six wickets in New Plymouth.

That leaves defending champions the Auckland Aces, the Wellington Firebirds and Central Stags all yet to get on the board after the first two of 10 rounds this season.

Gatland heads home

First five Bryn Gatland has signed with the Chiefs Super Rugby club for the next three years.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Born and bred in Hamilton, the former Hamilton Boys' High School player has played for the Highlanders the last two years.

The 25-year-old had an impressive Mitre 10 Cup campaign with North Harbour, finishing as the competition's leading points scorer with 119 points.

Meanwhile the Hurricanes have signed the Bay of Plenty halfback Luke Campbell.

The Hurricanes were short on halfbacks after TJ Perenara decided to have a season in Japan while Jamie Booth broke his leg in the provincial competition.

Harbour remain unbeaten in NBL

North Harbour have gone through the women's National Basketball League regular season unbeaten after 72-59 win over Auckland.

Harbour had already clinched top spot for the play-offs and they led by as many as 25 points early in the fourth quarter before going on to their fifth straight win.

Ash Kelman-Poto played a captain's knock scoring 19 points for Harbour. Brooke Blair was close behind with 18, Ella Fotu scored 13 and Jazz Kailahi-Fulu had nine.

Harbour will now await the outcome of the remaining two 18IN18 regular season games before finding out their semi-final opponents for Friday night.

Auckland need other results to go their way to make the semi-finals.