Netball action

There is just one round remaining in the preliminary stages of the Southland-wide netball league before teams embark on their finals campaigns. Thursday night’s penultimate round games produced some crucial results as teams jostle for semifinal positions. Ex High secured a vital win over Southland Girls’ High School 62-40 in a clash between two of the leading teams in the competition. St Mary’s from Invercargill accounted for Bluff 55-47, while Winton posted a strong 51-40 win over St Mary’s Gore. The St Mary’s Men dominated Rata 58-28 as they press for the top spot in the competition. There are some important fixtures in the final round of matches to be played in Gore on Thursday. The St Mary’s Men and Ex High will clash in a top-of-the-table clash, as Rata face Southland Girls’ High School with both teams looking to confirm their places in the playoffs. In the other matches, Winton play St Mary’s Invercargill while St Mary’s Gore host Bluff. contract was set to expire at the end of the coming Championship season, but he will now be at the club until at least the end of 2018-2019 season. In May, he was left out of All Whites coach Anthony Hudson’s squad for the Oceania Nations Cup, with his lack of commitment to the international programme cited as the reason why. Hudson said Smith would not be considered for selection going forward, so it would appear his international career has stalled, allowing him to focus solely on his club commitments. the first stage of the Rally of Finland, raced yesterday morning (NZT). He and co-driver John Kennard were three seconds off the lead in their Hyundai Motorsport car, completing the 2.31km opening stage of the latest round of the World Rally Championship in 1min 48.9 sec. Paddon has called the Rally of Finland, which he is racing in for the seventh time, his favourite event, saying it feels like a second home with the similarity to New Zealand conditions. preparations for the Rio Olympics cut short. After being seeded first and given a bye through to the second round at the Segovia stop of the ATP Challenger Tour, they lost in their first appearance on court, albeit in a hardfought match. They were beaten by the French duo Maxime Janvier and Remi Boutillier 3-6 7-6 (7) 10-8 at the event in Spain. This week’s tournament was the last chance the pair had to play together ahead of the Olympics. final after a narrow win over defending champions Argentina. Thomas Makea’s team won 3-2 in Midland, Michigan, yesterday morning. New Zealand went 2-0 up after the first inning and added another run in sixth through a towering home run by Harrison Valk. Argentina clawed back two runs in the last two innings and were close to tying the game when closing pitcher Bailey Hamilton struck out the last Argentine batter with runners on first and third base. New Zealand will play Japan today with the winner to advance to the tournament final. Japan – the only team to beat the Junior Black Sox in section play – had a 5-3 win over the United States.