Athletics
Javelin thrower Tori Peters is going from strength to strength, breaking her New Zealand javelin record with a throw of 62.04m at the Sydney Continental Bronze event.
It’s the second time in as many weeks that the 25-year-old has thrown a P.B., signalling she’s in the form of her life.
Peters posted that she’s “having an absolute blast and wont stop here, onto the next.”
Back in New Zealand a host of athletes were in action at the Sir Graeme Douglas International in Auckland.
Sprinter Eddie Osei-Nketia placed first in the hundred metre sprint with a time of 10.19s. Next was Australia’s Rohan Browning in 10.23 and Jake Doran in 10.47.
Dame Valerie Adams was second in the women’s shot put behind Canadian Sarah Mitton (18.84m) with a best throw of 18.73m. Third was Canadian Brittany Crew with 18.51m. Dame Valerie said it was good to be challenged on home soil.
“It’s been great to have athletes of that level come down to New Zealand and help us out with our competition tonight. After this I have nationals in Christchurch and then that’s the New Zealand season done. It’s awesome to come out here and showcase what we can do.”
Tom Walsh was first in the men’s shot put with a best throw of 21.66m, ahead of Ryan Ballantyne who threw a new personal best for the second week running with a best effort of 19.71m. Third was Australian Damien Birkinhead with 19.69m.
Nick Willis placed first in the 1500m, crossing in 3:41.77s ahead of a competitive Rorey Hunter of Australia in 3:41.81. Third was Luke Young in 3:43.44.
In the women’s 400m Hurdles, Portia Bing was a convincing first, crossing in 56.81 ahead of Australian Sara Klein in 57.76 and fellow Kiwi Mackenzie Jeffries in 59.60.
Rowing
Emma Twigg and Robbie Manson have taken top honours at the 2020 Rowing National Championships.
In the women’s single event Twigg claimed a staggering 9th National Title in a time of 8:00.19. Fellow Waikato RPC member Hannah Osborne took the silver in a time of 8:03.99 ahead of Southern RPC’s Olivia Loe who beat out her Elite teammate Brooke Donoghue to take bronze by 0.19 seconds.
In the men’s single event Robbie Manson took the win in a comfortable 7:16.97. Waikato RPC’s Jordan Parry took silver in 7:21.53, with Mahe Drysdale taking bronze in 7:24.93.
In a shift for Manson, earlier this year he indicated his intention to target the men’s double for the 2020 international season and was recently selected into the boat alongside Chris Harris for the World Rowing Cup II and III. Parry is vying for selection into a men’s quad to contest the Final Olympic Qualification regatta, while Drysdale has been selected as the New Zealand men’s single for World Rowing Cup II and III.
Basketball
The Tall Blacks have made it two wins from two games in their Asia Cup qualifier tournament, beating Guam 113-94.
Shea Ili once again shone in the high-octane New Zealand system, leading all scorers with 25 and backing that up with 8 boards, 7 assists and 4 steals his 29 minutes, the Melbourne point guard was unstoppable, while Reuben Te Rangi again showed he must be one of the hottest properties in the ANBL off-season, with 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting, including 5 of 8 from deep.
The win follows the sides historic 108-98 defeat of Australia in Brisbane last week.
Head Coach Pero Cameron was delighted with the maturity shown by his team, in an atmosphere that paid huge credit to the home nation.
“To come away with two wins was remarkable with this group of young men. That was a tough game but we started putting it together and got out to a 25-30 point lead and took the game away from them in key moments.”
Golf
Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox has finished an impressive 29th at the WGC-Mexico Championship.
Fox finished the prestigious event on a high note when he carded a final round of 3-under 68 to finish 3-under for the tournament.
Fox carded 68s in his second and fourth rounds but was undone by an opening 72 and a 73 in his third round.
Boxing and Cycling
A nine strong New Zealand boxing team is in action at the Asia-Oceania Tokyo 2020 Qualification tournament in Jordan where they will fight towards qualification for the Olympic Games.
New Zealand’s track cyclists are also in action in Berlin at the World Championships.
All the best to our athletes as they take on the rest of the world.