Sport 20 Ashburton Guardian
In brief Ball issues for Phoenix If an extra shot or two flies over the crossbar from the Wellington Phoenix during their FFA cup clash with Adelaide United across the Tasman on Tuesday night you could probably lay some blame on the ball. Nike supply the balls for the A-League but the inaugural FFA Cup features Umbro balls and the Phoenix have spent the past week trying to get used to the new piece of equipment. “They are a lot lighter and different to what we’ve been used to,” Phoenix striker Jeremy Brockie said. “But it’s good that they’ve arrived a little bit early so we can get a good feel for them.” - APNZ
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Saturday, August 2, 2014
■ KARATE
Taylah’s a real karate kid By Jonathan Leask
Jonathan.l@theguardian.co.nz
Scorchers sign Klinger The Perth Scorchers have signed experienced batsman Michael Klinger for the 2014-15 Big Bash League season. Klinger joins the Scorchers from the Adelaide Strikers after making 663 runs at an average of just under 35 and a strike rate of almost 120 in the first three editions of the BBL. The former Australia A representative has also played Twenty20 cricket with Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Kochi Tuskers Kerala, making more than 2000 runs in 77 matches with a strike rate of more than 120. - AAP
Gavaskar slams Indians India’s massive 266-run third Test defeat to England drew widespread condemnation yesterday with former captain Sunil Gavaskar accusing MS Dhoni’s team of abject surrender in Southampton. “To lose this Test even before lunch on the final day showed zero resistance whatsoever,” Gavaskar told the NDTV news channel. “There was no fight and that is a disappointing aspect,” added the former recordbreaking opening batsman. India’s loss was an abject surrender.” - AFP
Raonic ousts Hewitt Lleyton Hewitt has been knocked out of the Washington Open by big-serving Wimbledon semifinalist Milos Raonic. The Canadian blasted 27 aces on his way to winning the tight third-round clash 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-3) against the Australian veteran yesterday at the $US1.9 million hardcourt tune-up for the US Open. Raonic, who also won his opener over American Jack Sock in two tie-breakers, will face US giant-killer Steve Johnson for a spot in the last four. - AFP
Eels up for finals Parramatta skipper Tim Mannah says the Eels’ self-belief never wavered during a mid-season stumble and they are confident they can play NRL finals football. The Eels were flying before losing four matches in succession - the streak snapped last week with a win over Gold Coast. Ranked 12th heading into their clash with Cronulla today at Remondis Stadium, Parramatta are still very much in the finals hunt, on the same ladder points as the seventh-placed Cowboys. Mannah, who returned from a shoulder injury against the Titans, says the Eels remain tight thanks to Brad Arthur, who took over as head coach this season. The Sharks are without skipper Paul Gallen, who is sidelined with a biceps injury. - AAP
New Zealand Karate representative Taylah Burrowes.
PHOTO GINA BUCKLEY 310714-GB-004
Taylah Burrowes has only been a karate kid for less than two years, but she will be representing New Zealand in the Oceania Karate Championships in Fiji in September. The 10-year-old attended the New Zealand National Championships in Wellington in July, where she was third in the 10-11 under 40kg kumite. Taylah then attended the Karate New Zealand national training camp over two days, where she was named into the New Zealand team. “I was really surprised and then got quite excited,” Taylah said. She will take on the best from Oceania in the kumite (the fighting) in the 10-11yrs under 40 kg category, and will continue to train four times a week under Thorsten Windhorst at the Jion Karate Club in Ashburton. The green belt only started karate in October 2012 and has proved a fast learner. “My brother started karate and I watched and decided to have a go. “He eventually lost interest but I carried on.” At the nationals fellow Jion members won medals, with Thorsten Windhorst taking gold in the veteran male kumite and a bronze in the kata while Jenna Borthwick won gold in the 10-11 year girls’ kumite. Jessica Windhorst won bronze in the 14-15 kumite and was third in the secondary schools, while Leanne Walsh took bronze in the 12-13 year-old girls’ kata and kumite. Also at the nationals in Wellington were the Russell sisters, Isla and Kalia, competing out of the Kofukan dojo in Christchurch. Kalia won the silver in the 6-7 year old girls’ kumite and the bronze in the kata, while older sister Isla won the silver in the 8-9 year old girls kumite.
■ RUGBY LEAGUE
Lillyman expects forwards to front By DaviD skipwith Prop Jacob Lillyman expects the Warriors’ forwards to produce an improved effort in tomorrow’s crucial away match against the Canberra Raiders after last week’s loss to Manly. The Warriors held their own up-front against the Sea Eagles and as a team they managed to create enough scoring opportunities to win the game, but individually, the starting members
of the pack failed to make the big metres. Of the six starting forwards, none managed more than Lillyman and fellow front-rower Suaia Matagi, who both reached 65 metres, while bench players Ben Matulino and Jayson Bukuya were the stand-outs, with 117 and 82 metres respectively. “We were definitely down, that’s probably been right across the board, especially the forwards. We were all down
and a bit dirty on ourselves and we’re certainly looking to bounce back,” Lillyman said. Coach Andrew McFadden defended his forward’s efforts, and rightly pointed out that overall they were not too far behind the Manly pack’s total, with the Warriors’ big men accumulating 585 metres to the Sea Eagles’ 699. “I thought the forwards did a fair job. “All the stats suggested that
although we had a lack of possession in the game that we made just as many metres as them. I thought Ben Matulino particularly had a very good game and they’re going to need to be good again against a big Canberra pack,” he said. “We certainly recognised those areas we let ourselves down in but we’ve got to just focus on this week’s performance and if we play our best footy we should win the game.” - NZH