Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - The Northern Stars have suffered their first loss of the ANZ netball Premiership going down 57-44 to the Pulse in Auckland.

The Stars were in front 14-13 after the first quarter while the defending champion Pulse were led 26-25 at half time.

The third quarter has been the Pulse's Achilles heel this season, but it was in that period that they ran away with the game outscoring the Stars by seven goals.

They then outscored the Stars by five in the final quarter.

Pulse goal attack Te Amo Amaru-Tibble had one of her best shooting performances of the season with an 82 percent success rate while goal shoot Aliyah Dunn was at 90 percent.

The Wellington side also impressed in defence, slowing down the Stars attack.

Pulse captain Claire Kersten says the teams training was great in the buildup to the game and the intensity really went up which obviously helped.

The Stars remain top of the standings with a five and one record, while the Pulse improve to two and four.

On Monday night the Steel host the Tactix and the Magic host the Mystics.

Lefty still leads PGA

Phil Mickelson has made it three quarters of the way through the PGA Championship looking every bit like a golfer poised to win another major championship.

Tomorrow's final round at The Ocean Course in Kiawah Island in South Carolina, figures to be one of the toughest assignments in the 50-year-old golfer's career. But Mickelson is embracing the situation.

"I think that because I feel or believe that I'm playing really well and I have an opportunity to contend for a major championship on Sunday and I'm having so much fun that it's easier to stay in the present and not get ahead of myself," Mickelson said.

At 7 under, Mickelson holds a one-shot lead on Brooks Koepka, is trying to become the oldest golfer to win a major.

Mickelson owns five major titles, including the 2005 PGA Championship. His most recent victory in a major came in the 2013 British Open.

Mickelson last won the PGA Tour in 2019. He claimed two triumphs last year on the Champions Tour -- the 50-and-older circuit.

Koepka has won four majors (2017 and 2018 U.S. Open, 2018 and 2019 PGA Championship). He senses that he's in championship mode again.

-Reuters

Walsh well down on historic throw

New Zealand shot-putter Tom Walsh has finished fourth at the US Throws Festival in Arizona.

Walsh's best distance of 21.62m was well down on his season best and well behind winner, the Olympic champion Ryan Crouser whose 23.01 metres was the best distance in 31 years.

That makes him the third best thrower in history.

Crouser was almost a metre ahead of US team-mates Joe Kovacs and Darrell Hill.

Lauren Bruce finished sixth in the hammer with a distance of 72.7 metres

Bob Fulton dies

Australian rugby league legend Bob Fulton has died, at the age of 73.

He holds the unique distinction of winning premiership titles and Ashes series as a player, captain and coach.

England-born Fulton won Premierships with Manly in 1972, 1973 and 1976.

He coached Australia from 1989 to 1998.

Lawson stripped of win

A technical infringement has cost New Zealand driver Liam Lawson his second race victory in Formula 2.

Lawson, a rookie in the main feeder series for Formula One, crossed the finish line first to win the second sprint race at the Monaco Grand Prix.

However, following an investigation after the race, the 18-year-old has been later disqualified for a rules breach involving the throttle on his car.

Lawson then finished seventh in the feature race, dropping him down to fifth in the championship after coming into the Monaco event in second.

Fortune was also not with countryman Marcus Armstrong.

The 20-year-old lost pole position for sprint race two after a mechanical issue forced him to start from pit lane, while he failed to finish the feature race after crashing into a wall.

Meanwhile, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed on his way to taking pole position at his home Grand Prix, with rivals unable to better his time after red flags halted qualifying for Formula One's showcase race.

The 23-year-old smashed into the barriers with 18 seconds of the session remaining and would have to wait and see whether the car can be repaired without incurring grid penalties.

Red Bull's title contender Max Verstappen was one of those frustrated rivals who had to abort their final flying laps, but the Dutch driver stands to inherit pole if the Ferrari is demoted.

Mercedes' world championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who leads Verstappen by 14 points after four races but had struggled through the session and in practice, qualified a distant seventh.

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas qualified third, also aborting a potential pole lap.

- RNZ, Reuters

Venus lifts title in Geneva

New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus and Australian partner John Peers have won their fourth title together at the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva.

The second seeds have beaten Italian Simone Bolelli and Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez in straight sets in the final.

Venus and Peers have quickly gelled again after a two-month break following the Australian Open.

After a first round loss at the Madrid Masters, they reached the semi-finals at the Rome Masters last week and are now projected to climb to 13th in the race to qualify for the ATP Tour Finals in Turin at the end of the season.

The top eight teams qualify for the elite tournament, which Venus and Peers played together last year in London.

The duo captured three trophies in 2020 (Dubai, Hamburg and Antwerp) and having hit top form on clay will head into the French Open, starting next Sunday night, with plenty of confidence.

Breakers trumped by Kings

A lack-lustre final quarter has cost the Breakers in their second match back on New Zealand soil.

Eight-point winners over the Sydney Kings on Thursday, the Breakers have been beaten 81-76 by the same team in West Auckland on Saturday night.

The home side led by five going after the third quarter stanza, but a 25-15 final stanza for the Kings allowed them to gain avenge their loss two days earlier.

Levi Randolph's 25 points led the way for the Breakers, while Corey Webster was next best with 13.

The New Zealand side's next game is against Adelaide in Christchurch on Tuesday.

Another top 10 for Bennett at Giro

New Zealand cyclist George Bennett has further improved his overall position at the Giro d'Italia.

The Jumbo-Visma rider has finished seventh on stage 14, which finished with one of the sports most infamous climbs up the Monte Zoncolan.

Bennett is up to 18th in the general classification, 11 minutes down on race leader Egan Bernal.

Italian rider Lorenzo Fortunato of Eolo-Kometa ground his way up the steep slopes to claim his maiden career win.

Scaling gradients of over 20 per cent in the final three kilometres, Fortunato was egged on by fans on the mountainous route as he inched towards the finish line.

Jan Tratnik of Bahrain Victorious looked to challenge him close to the finish but did not have the legs and finished 26 seconds behind, while Alessandro Covi of UAE Team Emirates finished third.

- RNZ, Reuters

Sri Lanka cricket in crisis

Cricket in Sri Lanka plunged into a crisis after leading players refused to sign new contracts they find "unfair and non-transparent" on the eve of their one-day series in Bangladesh beginning on Sunday.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) offered contracts to 24 players ahead of the team's departure for Bangladesh, with lower base salaries and more performance-based incentives.

In a statement through a legal representatives, the cricketers said they were "not in agreement to sign unfair and non-transparent contracts and urge SLC to not hold the players at gunpoint".

The players, including test captain Dimuth Karunaratne and ODI skipper Kusal Perera, expressed "shock and dismay" at the SLC's decision to make public their proposed salary details.

They said the salary offered to them was roughly one-third of what their counterparts in some other nations got.

"Unlike in other nations when disputes arise and result in players seeking other avenues by way of franchise cricket, the Sri Lankan players will continue to be readily available to play and be selected for Sri Lanka," the players added.

- Reuters

Russian athletes get green light

World Athletics' doping review board has approved 23 Russians to compete at international competitions as neutral athletes, taking the total count to 27 this year.

Russia's athletics federation (RusAF) has been suspended since 2015 after a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found evidence of mass doping among track and field athletes.

World Athletics in March reinstated the Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA) scheme for clean Russian athletes after the approval of RusAF's reinstatement plan.

Among the 27 neutral athletes are Mikhail Akimenko (men's high jump) and Anzhelika Sidorova (women's pole vault), who won silver and gold at the 2019 World Championships, along with women's high jump world number one Mariya Lasitskene.

World Athletics has said there is no limit on the number of Russians who may compete as authorised neutral athletes in international competitions this year, apart from the Olympic Games and other championships.

Up to 10 Russians will be allowed to compete as neutral athletes at the July 23 to August 8 Tokyo Olympics if they meet certain criteria.

- Reuters