In today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - A rival rugby league club is making moves which could see young Warriors fullback Reece Walsh leave the NRL side even sooner than expected.

A report out of Australia says the Melbourne Storm are making "a significant play" to sign the 20-year-old for the rest of the 2022 season.

Walsh was granted a release earlier this month by the Warriors to join the Brisbane Broncos from next season - and has been benched for Saturday afternoon's game against the Raiders in Canberra.

The Storm's first choice fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen is out for the season with a knee injury.

"I can reveal that this is a massive push from the Melbourne Storm," SEN's Michelle Bishop said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.

"It's not whispers, this is actually happening, they're pushing hard, they want the Warriors to obviously release Reece Walsh early.

"He's signed with the Warriors from 2023 for three years starting next year, but he would be the perfect candidate to fill the void left by Ryan Papenhuyzen who has had absolutely no luck with injuries and is out again.

Bishop, though, added the Warriors were reluctant to release Walsh "due to the optics of his pending move to the Broncos."

"They don't see it as a good fit, they say Reece wanted to go to Brisbane to be closer to his family, he's gone through a separation and wants visitation rights for his daughter.

"Shifting from New Zealand via Melbourne to Brisbane just isn't a good look."

Good start for Ko

Lydia Ko is in a tie for fifth, three shots off the lead after the opening round of the latest women's golf major, the Evian Championsip in France.

Ko fired a five under par 66.

Japan's Ayaka Furue is the leader.

Ko won the major tournament in 2015.

Meanwhile Steven Alker is in a tie for 21st at the Senior British Open at Gleneagles in Scotland.

His two under par 68 has him four shots behind leader Stephen Ames of Canada.

Alker is currently the top ranked player on the US Champions Tour with three victories this season.

Razor to lineup against All Blacks

Crusaders coach Scott Robertson and his former assistant Ronan O'Gara have been appointed to lead the Barbarians in their clash with an All Blacks XV at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London in November.

The duo are set for a reunion, after previously working together at Super Rugby outfit in 2018 and 2019.

O'Gara, who is now head coach at French club La Rochelle, worked as the Crusaders' backline coach during that period and attributed Robertson for changing his mentality towards coaching.

Robertson is excited by the prospect of coaching the Barbarians.

"Rugby throws you great opportunities and coaching the Baa-baas has to be one of the best there is," he told the Barbarians' official website. "I am proud to help the incredible club and add to its history."

The All Blacks XV is unlikely to have any top line players in their team as the All Blacks will be on their northern tour at the same time.

Tall Blacks into last four

The Tall Blacks are through to the semi-finals of the Asia Cup in Jakarta after beating South Korea 88-78 in their quarter-final.

Flynn Cameron was electric with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists for the Tall Blacks - including 14pts in a dominating fourth quarter by the 22-year-old guard - as the Kiwis pulled away for the gritty win with a 28-18 fourth quarter.

New Zealand will play Australia in the semi-finals.

The reigning Asia Cup champions beat Japan 99-85 in their quarter-final.

Australia and New Zealand will be facing each other for a second straight Semi-Finals after playing against each other in 2017 as well.

New Zealand next faces Australia in the Asia Cup semi-finals, on Saturday 23 July (time TBC).

Jordan and Lebanon meet in the other semi-final.

Vingegaard closes in on Tour title

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard is one step closer to winning the 2022 Tour de France after he extended his overall lead with a stage 18 victory.

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar claimed second place, one minute and four seconds off the pace.

In a brilliant act of sportsmanship earlier in the race, Vingegaard, 25, waited for and shook hands with Pogacar after the Slovenian rider crashed.

Jumbo-Visma's Vinegegaard now leads overall by three mins 26 secs.

Britain's Geraint Thomas finished fourth to stay third in the general classification.

There are just three more stages remaining.

-BBC

Rennie wants to increase Giteau rule

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said he might need to negotiate with the Rugby Australia board to bring in a fourth overseas-based player during the Rugby Championship and help him with a shortage of locks.

Under a deal negotiated by his predecessor Michael Cheika ahead of the 2015 World Cup, the Wallabies coach is allowed to select three players contracted to clubs outside Australia.

The "Giteau Rule", as it became known, places a constraint on Rennie that few other test coaches have to work with and the New Zealander suggested the allowance might not be enough to get through his second row injury crisis.

"The issue from the second row is we've lost a number of guys," he said.

"Izack (Rodda)'s gone for an extended period, Cadeyrn Neville's gone for an extended period and a guy we brought in to give us a bit of cover, Ned Hanigan, went under the knife last week.

"We're a little bit thin in the second row and we're one injury away from a fair bit of pressure there. So we've brought Rory (Arnold) in ... and then we need to go back to the board and have a chat around where things are at."

Rennie selected flyhalf Quade Cooper, winger Marika Koroibete and lock Arnold in his squad for two tests against Argentina next month, the latter only because centre Samu Kerevi is going to the Commonwealth Games.

-Reuters

Vettel in talks to stay at Aston Martin

Four times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel is in talks with Aston Martin about staying with them next season and laughed off speculation he might move to McLaren.

The 35-year-old German, who won his titles with Red Bull from 2010-13, is out of contract at the end of 2022 with his future -- and whether he will even stay in the sport -- much discussed.

Aston Martin principal Mike Krack has said he wants to retain Vettel, now in his second season with the team after moving from Ferrari, but it would be up to the driver to decide.

Aston Martin are ninth in the 10-team championship, with Vettel scoring 15 points to Canadian team mate and team owner's son Lance Stroll's three.

The French Grand Prix is this weekend.

-Reuters

Serena to return to singles next week

Former world tennis number one Venus Williams will make her singles comeback after nearly a year at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. next week.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion accepted a wildcard for the WTA 250 event a day after announcing she will also compete at next month's WTA 1000 event in Toronto, where she will be joined by her sister Serena.

Venus, 42, last played a singles match at the Chicago Women's Open in August 2021, losing in the first round to Hsieh Su-Wei.

Her most recent return to the court was when she teamed up with Britain's Jamie Murray and reached the second round in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon.

-Reuters

Tonga missing key players

Tonga will be without star internationals Israel Folau, Malakai Fekitoa and Charles Piutau for their World Cup playoff against Hong Kong on the Sunshine Coast in Australia on Saturday.

Outside back Folau, capped 73 times for Australia before his Wallabies contract was terminated in 2019, suffered a serious hamstring injury early in his Tonga debut in the 36-0 loss to hosts Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup.

Coach Toutai Kefu said the dual code international could be sidelined for up to another 12 weeks.

Former New Zealand centre Fekitoa had returned to Irish club Munster after suffering a calf injury while fellow All Black Piutau had only committed to two matches during the Pacific Nations Cup.

Tonga have only missed qualifying for one World Cup in 1991 and should have too much quality for Hong Kong, despite heading into the playoff in dire form after three straight defeats at the Pacific Nations Cup.

The winner secures a place in Pool D at next year's World Cup in France with reigning champions South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Romania.

-Reuters

Chinese tennis events cancelled

The Shanghai Masters and three other men's tournaments in China will not be held this year due to COVID-19 restrictions in the country.

China hosted the Winter Olympics under strict health protocols in February but almost every other international sporting event in the country this year has been cancelled or postponed.

As of July 20, mainland China had confirmed 228,180 cases of COVID-19 with symptoms since the pandemic first struck in December 2019.

Although the number is small by global standards, authorities in China are sticking to a stringent zero-COVID policy, while other countries have relaxed their rules and chosen to live with the virus.

The French Open and Wimbledon were recently held without any health restrictions and it was unlikely players would have agreed to go to China if there was any period of isolation involved.

The women's tour has no events scheduled in China for 2022 as the WTA works to find a resolution to the standoff with China over Peng Shuai.

-Reuters