RNZ with Agencies
Auckland, March 13, 2021
New Zealand Tennis player Marcus Daniell and his Austrian partner Philipp Oswald have been beaten in the final of the ATP 250 tournament in Doha.
After beating the Australian Open Doubles Champions in the first round and the world number one ranked team in the semi-finals, Daniell and Oswald were beaten 7-5 6-4 by Russians Andrey Rublev and Aslan Karatsev.
“We had a lot of opportunities to break but they came up with some big serves and we did not finish a few volleys. They just played the big points a little better than us and had the luxury of having zero tension. But still a good week for us with some big wins” Daniell said.
Daniell and Oswald will move onto the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai in a confident frame of mind however after their wins over the in-form Aussie Open Champions Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek and world number one ranked Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah this week.
The Kiwi number two is projected to climb to 39 in the ATP doubles rankings, just five places off his career high of 34.
Wildcats beat Breakers
The Perth Wildcats have beaten the New Zealand Breakers 85-75 in their Australian National Basketball League game in Melbourne.
The Breakers led by one at half time, but the Wildcats broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Breakers 33-17.
Finn Delany top scored for the Breakers with 30 points.
Breakers coach Dan Shamir again could not fault his team’s heart shown but there was little pieces of execution they could have performed better.
“We started well obviously and it want not just having the lead, but we executed. We did not make every shot but we came out the right way and built an early lead. But overall with our few limitations right now we once again left everything on the floor. I thought it was a good effort but it wasn’t enough and I obviously focus on a lot of little things that we can do just a little better. We have to do that in order to win games because with 75 points that we produced offensively, we have to really be perfect on a lot of little things. But overall, I cannot complain too much for their effort and attitude. It was just not enough,” Shamir said.
Otago fight back
Otago have fought back on day two of their Plunket Shield cricket game against Canterbury at Hagley Oval.
In reply to the home-side’s first innings of 517, Otago ended the second day on 218 for 3 with Hamish Rutherford scoring 60 and Nick Kelly unbeaten on 50.
And despite losing the first day’s play due to rain, the other two games are well advanced with Wellington 60 for five in reply to Central’s first innings of 175 in Napier, and Northern 112 for two in reply to Auckland’s 141 in Whangarei.
Wins for Knights and Eels
The Newcastle Knights and Parramatta Eels scored wins in the opening round of the National Rugby League on Friday (March 12, 2021) night.
The Knights scored five tries in a 32-16 win over the Bulldogs, while the Eels pipped Brisbane 24-16 in Brisbane.
On Thursday (March 11, 2021) night the Champion Melbourne Storm beat Souths 26-18.
Mercedes struggle
Champions Mercedes had a difficult start to three days of Formula 1 testing in Bahrain.
Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas ended the day 10th and 17th fastest and managed the lowest number of laps in the field.
Mercedes had problems with reliability and the handling of the car.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and new Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.
Conditions were difficult all day, with strong winds and a sandstorm making the track slippery throughout.
England win opening T20 in India
England’s bowlers did the spadework before opener Jason Roy’s explosive 49 helped secure a comprehensive eight-wicket victory against India in the first Twenty20 International in Ahmedabad.
Electing to field, Eoin Morgan and his men denied India a strong start and eventually restricted them to a below-par 124-7 despite Shreyas Iyer’s breezy 67.
Roy smashed three sixes and four boundaries in his 32-ball blitz and England wrapped up victory with 4.3 overs to spare with Dawid Malan, who made 24 not out, sealing the win with a six. The series assumes more importance for both teams as India will host the Twenty20 World Cup in October-November.
Roglic wins again
Primoz Roglic claimed his second victory in this year’s Paris-Nice race as he won the sixth stage, a 202.4-km ride from Brignoles to Biot, to extend his overall lead.
The Vuelta a Espana Champion beat sprint specialists Christophe Laporte of France and Australian Michael Matthews at the end of a short uphill drag.
The Slovenian, who will be hoping to win the Tour de France after cracking in the final time trial while wearing the yellow jersey last year, now leads German Maximilian Schachmann by 41 seconds and Spain’s Ion Izaguirre by 50.
Roglic is the Jumbo-Visma team-mate of New Zealander George Bennett.
The last two stages have been changed to avoid Nice amid a local weekend lockdown enforced to contain the spread of Covid-19.
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