Latest - The Black Stricks women have qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup after beating India 4-3 in their last pool game.
Olivia Merry Photo: Photosport
The New Zealanders finished top of their group with two wins and a draw to automatically qualify for the last eight.
India opened the scoring in the first five minutes before Olivia Merry scored from a penalty corner and Tessa Jopp added a second from the field just before half time.
Frances Davies scored the third from a penalty corner just after the break.
India then got their second midway through the second half.
Merry grabbed her second from a penalty corner goal in the last five minutes, while India scored their third just before the final whistle.
Other matches have to be played before New Zealand's quarter-final opponent will be found.
Fisher-Black climbs up GC
Nelson cyclist Niamh Fisher-Black has moved into the top five on the Giro d'Italia after another impressive ride on the seventh stage.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The 21 year old finished sixth on the stage to move up three places in general classification.
She has also increased her lead in the young rider category.
Dutch star Annemiek Van Vleuten leads overall with Fisher Black almost six minutes behind.
She is the leading rider for her SD Worx team.
Cricket employs spies to find racists
Warwickshire will deploy undercover spotters for the second Twenty20 between England and India at Edgbaston after allegations of racist behaviour among members of the crowd during the fifth test this week.
Edgbaston Photo: PHOTOSPORT
A number of supporters said on Twitter they had been targeted by racist abuse from other fans at the Birmingham venue on Monday. The home side won the match by seven wickets to draw the series 2-2.
In addition to employing "undercover football crowd-style spotters", there will be enhanced police presence at Edgbaston for the game on Saturday.
The Bharat Army, India's official global supporters' group, later said many of its members had been targeted by "a very small minority", with the England and Wales Cricket Board saying they were "very concerned" by the reports.
The West Midlands Police have already launched an investigation into the incident.
English cricket was rocked by a racism scandal last year when former Yorkshire spinner Azeem Rafiq alleged that he had been a victim of institutional racism at the club.
-Reuters
Pogacar takes yellow
Twice defending champion Tadej Pogacar stormed to victory in stage six of the Tour de France with a late lung-busting effort and snatched the overall leader's yellow jersey from Wout van Aert.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
It was the seventh Tour stage win for the Slovenian, who finished ahead of Michael Matthews and David Gaudu in the 220-km journey from Binche to Longwy, the longest in this year's race.
The UAE Team Emirates rider benefited from 2020 runner-up Primoz Roglic, who dislocated his shoulder during the fifth stage, mistiming his sprint and sped away from his compatriot in the last few metres to take the win.
Pogacar leads American Neilson Powless by four seconds in the general classification with Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark 27 seconds further back in third.
Friday's stage seven is a 176.5-km ride from Tomblaine to La Super Planche des Belles Filles.
-Reuters
Zhou happy to be back
Chinese Formula One rookie Guanyu Zhou is looking forward to a quick return to racing in Austria this weekend after a huge crash last week in which he feared his car would catch fire with him trapped inside.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Alfa Romeo driver spoke to reporters about the British Grand Prix crash that sent his car flying over a tyre wall at Silverstone before being wedged sideways between barriers and the catch fence.
He repeated that the halo head protection system, a titanium ring around the cockpit, had saved his life.
"(I'm) happy to have back-to-back races because if you had a summer break after (such a crash) that would be terrible, because you would be thinking about it and repeating the crash in your mind again and again," he said.
"Good to be back as soon as I could."
Zhou issued a picture on Twitter of him with FIA medical staff at the Red Bull Ring: "Finished the final medical check, all good to go," he said.
Zhou, China's first Formula One driver, said he did not know how he survived the incident but "looking back, obviously, the halo I saw saved me".
-Reuters
Modern pentathlon appeal dismissed
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has dismissed an appeal by the Danish Modern Pentathlon Association against the sport's governing body UIPM for its decision to drop horse riding from the Olympic programme from 2028.
The UIPM decided in November 2021 to remove horse riding from the 2028 Los Angeles Games in the wake of an outcry after a German coach punched a horse that refused to jump a fence at the Tokyo Games.
In February 2022, the MPADK filed an appeal to the CAS to reverse the decision, saying the UIPM's Executive Board had no power to take the decision and had breached the statutes and the UIPM Code of Ethics.
Modern pentathlon was introduced at the 1912 Stockholm Games as a representation of the skills required of a cavalry officer -- fencing, swimming, equestrianism, shooting and running.
The sport's governing body said in May it had selected two variations of obstacle racing for testing from more than 60 options to replace equestrianism.
-Reuters
Grinner pleads guilty
American basketball player Brittney Griner has pleaded guilty in a Khimki, Russia, courtroom to drugs charges that could bring a sentence of up to 10 years.
Hours after Griner's wife, Cherelle, pledged not to rest until she is home, the WNBA All-Star told a judge she had no intent to break the law.
"I'd like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn't want to break the law," Griner said, according to Reuters.
Griner asked the judge for "time to prepare" her testimony. She's scheduled to appear again in one week, July 14, with her detention currently scheduled to last into December.
United States President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took part in a call with Cherelle Griner this week, their first conversation since Brittney Griner was taken into custody at an airport near Moscow on drug charges.
Brittney Griner wrote a letter to Biden that was delivered to the White House for the Independence Day holiday. It was a plea to Biden to work on her case and also to assist other Americans held in Russia.
The White House said Biden told Cherelle Griner that the administration is pursuing "every avenue to bring Brittney home."
-Reuters