8 Aug 2021

Today's sports news: What you need to know

2:08 pm on 8 August 2021

Latest - New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus has carried his form from Tokyo on to the ATP Tour.

New Zealand's Michael Venus versus USA's Krajicek / Sandgren. Semi Finals of the Mens Doubles Tennis. Ariake Tennis Park, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Friday 30 July 2021.

Photo: Photosport Ltd 2021 www.photosport.nz

The Olympic bronze medallist is through to the final of the men's doubles at the Citi Open in Washington D.C.

Venus and his British playing partner Neal Skupski have thrashed Italian Jannik Sinner and American Sebastian Korda 6-3 6-0 in just 43 minutes in their semifinal.

It was an impressive performance from the scratch combination who are only playing together this week.

Venus will now face his former doubles partner Raven Klaasen and New Zealand-born Ben McLachlan for what would be his 16th career ATP title if he and Skupski are triumphant.

Klaasen and McLachlan beat Venus' teammate from Tokyo, Marcus Daniell, and his Brazilian playing partner Marcelo Melo 6-4 7-5 in their semifinal.

Adams' move is confirmed

New Zealand basketball player Steven Adams has been traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.

New Orleans center Steven Adams drives in the lane in his first NBA game for the Pelicans against the Toronto Raptors.

Steven Adams Photo: AFP / Getty

The 28-year-old centre is on the move from the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a three-team deal also involving the Charlotte Hornets.

Adams averaged 7.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in his first season with the Pelicans last year after seven seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Adams, who will make $17.1 million next season, replaces Jonas Valanciunas at the Grizzlies.

Valanciunas goes to the Pelicans, who have added restricted free agent point guard Devonte' Graham and the draft rights to forward Trey Murphy and swingman Brandon Boston.

The Grizzlies also pick up guard Eric Bledsoe, the draft rights to wing Ziaire Williams and a protected 2022 first round draft pick (via Los Angeles Lakers) from the Pelicans.

Adams has played 588 NBA games since being drafted in 2013 out of the University of Pittsburgh.

Buscomb ends Olympic debut with season's best performance

New Zealand runner Camille Buscomb has finished 19th in the women's 10,000m Olympic final, crossing the line in 32.10:49, a season's best.

New Zealand runner Camille Buscomb at the Tokyo Olympics.

Camille Buscomb Photo: Alisha Lovrich

On her Olympic debut, Buscomb was the only female New Zealand athlete to take to the track in Tokyo and lined up twice, competing in both the 5000m and 10,000m.

The conditions in the stadium for the 10,000m were stifling with barely a breath of wind. The pace set by the race leaders was relentless, with Buscomb starting near the back of the pack and dropping off the lead group around the 2000m mark.

After struggling with the heat in the 5000m qualifying, Buscomb said she was happy to cross the line feeling good:

"My goal was to finish feeling good and I did that. I finished feeling really good. I know obviously the time wasn't super-fast, but I feel like I competed and I enjoyed the race.

"My worst nightmare was going to be blowing up, feeling horrible, getting heat stroke, not coping, so I just really wanted to be in control feeling good, enjoy it."

The 31-year-old runner, who hails from the Waikato, said that the next goal was clear.

"I want to go to Paris in 2024, so that's the goal. It's just a matter of how I get there, what I do between now and then, but yes Paris is the goal."

Karate's Olympic debut rife with injuries

The final bout of karate's historic debut at the Olympics ended in uproar when Saudi Arabian Tareg Hamedi's high-kick to Sajad Ganjzadeh's neck saw him disqualified and his motionless Iranian opponent awarded the gold medal.

Hardly a minute in, Hamedi looked dominant, having scored a three-point "ippon" in the ninth second and he was leading 4-1 before the bout came to an abrupt end.

Hamedi's final kick sent Ganjzadeh to the tatami and the Saudi into celebration mode before the mood in the Nippon Budokan arena turned. Medics rushed to Ganjzadeh's side, placing an oxygen mask on the Iranian and removing him on a stretcher.

After a few minutes of discussion among the officials on the sidelines, the referee called the match for Ganjzadeh by disqualifying Hamedi for an unchecked attack, which is not allowed under karate's Olympic rules.

Ganjzadeh was the second karate-ka to be carried away on a stretcher.

Germany's gold-medal hopeful Jonathan Horne suffered a mid-bout injury during the elimination round that left him writhing and screaming in agony and unable to rise from the tatami.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation press officer Michael Schirp said Horne had suffered an elbow injury that would be examined further in hospital. The extent of the damage was still unknown, he said.

Horne, the reigning world champion in the +84kg class, had 20 seconds left in his match.

Earlier in the women's +61kg category contest, Italian Silvia Semeraro's head was bandaged up while venue staff replaced the tatami panels stained with her blood.

- Reuters

Australia get consolation T20 win

Australia's Andrew Tye and Mitchell Swepson delivered a spirited bowling performance as the tourists defeated Bangladesh by three wickets in the fourth Twenty20 international to record their first win in the five-match series.

Australian bowler Andrew Tye.

Andrew Tye Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Bangladesh took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series with Friday's 10-run victory in Dhaka. The final match will be played on Monday at the same venue.

Tye (3-18) and Swepson (3-12) restricted Bangladesh to 104-9 as the hosts lost three players, including skipper Mohammad Mahmudullah to a duck, with opener Mohammad Naim top-scoring with 28 runs.

The Bangladesh bowlers fought hard to defend the measly total but Australian Dan Christian's 15-ball 39 coupled with team mate Ashton Agar's run-a-ball 27 helped the visitors seal the contest with an over to spare.

- Reuters

Rangers' 40-game unbeaten league run comes to an end

Scottish Premiership champions Rangers' run of 40 unbeaten league matches was ended as they lost 1-0 to Dundee United.

Rangers, who won the 2020-21 Scottish top-flight season with a haul of 102 points, last lost to Hamilton on March 4, 2020, before Jamie Robson's second-half goal on Saturday earned Dundee United a victory at Tannadice Park.

Manager Steven Gerrard led Rangers to their first Premiership title in a decade last season as they finished 25 points above Celtic and crushed their arch rivals' hopes of a 10th straight league title.

- Reuters