Sports briefs

Harawira-Naera stars for Bulldogs

Corey Harawira-Naera scored an impressive brace of tries as the Canterbury Bulldogs beat the North Queensland Cowboys 24-12 last night. The 23-year-old Northland-raised second rower scored twice in the second half as the Bulldogs recorded just their second win of the NRL season against a Cowboys side buoyed by a win over the Warriors at Mt Smart a week ago. The South Sydney Rabbitohs joined the Storm and Roosters at the top of the table with a six win-one loss record after seeing off the Penrith Panthers 22-18 in last night’s late game. The Bunnies led 10-2 at the break and never trailed.

Phoenix can afford one-goal loss

The Wellington Phoenix need a onegoal loss or better at Perth Glory tomorrow night to clinch fifth place in football’s A-League. Sixth-placed Melbourne City beat wooden spooners Central Coast 5-0 last night to move level on points with the Phoenix but their goal difference is one worse than the New Zealand club. If Wellington finish fifth, they play at Adelaide on Sunday night in the first round of the playoffs. If they lose by more than one goal to the minor premiers tomorrow, a trip to Melbourne to play the Victory on Friday night awaits.

Kiwi duo confirmed for World Cup

Jeff Crowe and Chris Gaffaney were last night confirmed among the men who will officiate the Cricket World Cup in England and Wales starting on May 30. Former New Zealand captain Crowe was one of six match referees and former Otago opener Gaffaney was one of 16 umpires named by the ICC. The panel also included three World Cup winners: Australians David Boon (a champion in 1987) and Paul Reiffel (1999), plus Sri Lankan Kumar Dharmasena (1996).

Spurs survive to fight on

The San Antonio Spurs have survived elimination from the NBA playoffs and forced the Denver Nuggets into a sudden death game seven. The Spurs ran away with a 120-103 victory in San Antonio to even the series 3-3 with the decider in Denver on Monday. The Spurs were led by their All-Stars, with LaMarcus Aldridge scoring 26 points and DeMar DeRozan 25 points. “We had to come out aggressive because it was do or die,” DeRozan said. The Nuggets are the Western Conference’s second seed and the Spurs a lowly seventh seed.

Celtics great dies at 79

John Havlicek, the Boston Celtics great whose steal of Hal Green’s inbounds pass in the final seconds of the 1965 Eastern Conference final against the Philadelphia 76ers remains one of the most famous plays in NBA history, has died. He was 79. Nicknamed “Hondo” for his resemblance to John Wayne, Havlicek was drafted in the first round in 1962 out of Ohio State by a Celtics team stocked with stars Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, KC Jones, Sam Jones, Tom Sanders, Tom Heinsohn and Frank Ramsey. Havlicek went on to win eight NBA championships, setting Celtics career records for points and games.

Murray’s two-sport milestone

The Arizona Cardinals made Heisman Trophy-winning Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray the No 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Murray’s selection is historic in a number of ways, becoming the first person to be a first-round pick in both the Major League Baseball and NFL drafts, after the Oakland Athletics drafted him ninth overall last summer. Murray pledged to pay back his US$4.66 million ($7m) signing bonus to the A’s when announcing in February that he would be committed to football full-time. “I pride myself on being different, doing different things,” Murray said from the red carpet before the draft, referring to the expected two-sport milestone.

Woods ‘fully prepared’

Tiger Woods hopes winning the Masters to end 11 years without a golf major will lead to more majors in his pursuit of the record held by Jack Nicklaus. But in an interview with GOLFTV, Woods says catching Nicklaus won’t be easy. “The only thing I can promise you is this, that I will be prepared,” Woods said in his first extensive comments since leaving Augusta National with a fifth green jacket. “Now whether or not it all comes together — because you need to have mind, body and soul come together for those four days. That doesn’t always happen,” Woods said. “If you think about it, I’ve been out here what, 23 years or so? It’s only come together 15 times.”

Geary in disastrous 78

English golfer Jordan Smith carded a bogey-free 7-under 66 to take a oneshot lead after the first round of the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II. Smith was a stroke ahead of 2014 champion Alejandro Canizares, of Spain, and American Sean Crocker, who also avoided any bogeys on the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam course. New Zealand’s Josh Geary had a disastrous 78. On the PGA tour, Scott Stallings and Trey Mullinax shot a best-ball 11-under 61 to top the Zurich Classic leaderboard after a weather delay that prevented half of the 80 teams from teeing off.

Nadal looks back to best

Rafael Nadal looked closer to his claycourt best again as he beat David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3 yesterday to reach the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open tennis tournament. The 11-time Barcelona champion saved four of five break points and broke four times in what could have been his last meeting with Ferrer, who is retiring after the Madrid Open next month. It was an improvement for Nadal, who lost in the semifinals in Monte Carlo last week.