SPORT l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ntnews.com.au
Pakis star on home soil
Goh, Targett claim gold medals
Sexton crashes out
SECURITY was tight on Saturday as Pakistan hosted
its first international cricket match since 2009, when
militants attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan team
and brought tours to a standstill. A sellout 32,000
crowd at the well-cordoned National Stadium
watched Pakistan All Stars, led by Shahid Afridi, win
by 84 runs against an International World XI, led by
former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya, in an
unofficial T20 match.
AUSTRALIAN swimmers Rachel Goh and Matt Targett
both celebrated wins on the first night of finals at the
World Cup series short-course meet in Berlin on
Saturday. Goh won the 50m backstroke while Targett
claimed the 50m butterfly. Victorian-based Goh has
won gold at every World Cup stop, with the exception
of Doha where she was forced to settle for silver
behind Japan’s Noriko Inada. Targett’s win continued
his run of success with a winning time of 22.30sec.
LONDON Olympian Brendan Sexton finished 30th at
the world triathlon championships in Auckland
yesterday after crashing on the bike leg. Sexton was
the only Australian in the men’s elite race, which was
raced in driving rain. Spanish star Javier Gomez won
the race ahead of British rival Jonathan Brownlee,
who took out the world series title. Sexton, 22, was
trying to make up ground early in the 40km cycle
when he hit the deck.
Diamonds sparkle
in Kiwi demolition
PUB: NT NEWS
DATE: 22-OCT-2012 PAGE: 34 COLOR: C M Y K
Australia’s Catherine Cox, right, beats Kiwi Katrina Grant to the ball yesterday
NETBALL
By AMANDA LULHAM
AUSTRALIAN coach Lisa
Alexander was so impressed
with the Diamonds record
win over New Zealand she
did something she has never
done before — leant back in
her chair and just enjoyed
the final minutes of the international game.
Shooting stars, new moves,
old combinations and stunning comebacks delivered
Australia its highest-scoring
win and most emphatic vic-
SCORES
AUSTRALIA 68 (Susan
Pratley 29 Catherine Cox 29
Caitlin Bassett 10) d NEW
ZEALAND 48 (Irene van Dyk
28 Maria Tutaia 15 Catherine
Latu 5) at Allphones Arena.
tory over New Zealand in
more than a decade yesterday while putting the Diamonds in pole position to end
2012 as the No. 1 side in the
sport for the second successive year.
The only downside for
Australia is an ankle injury
sustained by captain Natalie
von Bertouch which may delay her travelling to New Zealand for the second half of the
series later this week.
Alexander rated the Sydney game, at Allphones
Arena in front of 13,640 fans,
in the four-nation international series between Australia, New Zealand, England
and South Africa as the Diamonds best performance
since taking over the reigns
of the world championship
side last year.
Picture: BRETT COSTELLO
‘‘Definitely. There is no
doubt,’’ a delighted Alexander declared. ‘‘I actually
spent the last two and a half
minutes just sitting there,
taking it in and enjoying it
because it was so special.’’
The Diamonds produced
their biggest win over New
Zealand in 12 years and highest ever score with their 68-48
trouncing of the Silver Ferns.
It was a surprise result for
a team which traditionally
wins or loses its matches
with New Zealand by four
goals or less and has put the
Diamonds in the box seat to
claim the final international
series of the year when it culminates in New Zealand on
November 1.
And while it was a performance which left an outof-sorts New Zealand shellshocked, it also left the Australian players stunned.
‘‘Biggest goal margin in 12
years and highest ever score.
That’s wonderful for us to be
a part of. Especially when we
haven’t been in the team for a
while,’’ said defender Bec
Bulley.
Mundine
told to
quit if
he loses
BOXING
PAUL KENT
DANIEL Geale is putting
up all he has and wants
Anthony Mundine to do
the same.
Geale is risking his IBF
title and future riches in
the US to fight Mundine
and believes Mundine,
whose career is fast fading, should also have
something big at stake in
their January bout.
‘‘If he loses then that’s
it, he can finish up,’’ Geale
said.
Geale wants Mundine
to do all of Australia a
favour and retire if he is
beaten. Oh, to dream.
The irony of it, though,
is it might be an easier
choice for Mundine than
most think.
Despite his ongoing
claims about conquering
the US and all the great
names within it, the truth
is Mundine is next to unwanted in the States.
His seventh round stoppage of Bronco McKart, a
41-year-old has-been who
was world champion
when Paul Keating was
still PM and has been in
steady decline since,
failed to convince even
one main event promoter
to pick up the phone to
Mundine and book him on
a card in the US.
On top of that his payper-view sales were waning, talk of fighting the
Miguel Cottos and Floyd
Mayweathers was simply
gibberish designed to
keep his name alive and to
manufacture some false
injustice if it fails to come
off, and the landscape in
Australia was drying up.
Trying to incite Geale at
last Thursday’s press conference, Mundine joked
that he thought all the
Tasmanian Aborigines
were dead — a joke about
the extinction of his own
people, from a man trying
to set himself up as a
leader — and that Geale
had a ‘‘white woman,
white kids’’.
Mundine apologised
yesterday on Nine’s Wide
World of Sports.
Wollongong trounces flailing Crocs to continue winning streak
BASKETBALL
WOLLONGONG dominated
Townsville 84-66 yesterday to
continue its perfect start to
the NBL season.
The Hawks, who were
second-bottom last season,
34
led by 15 at half-time and
never let the Crocs into the
game. Wollongong joined
Perth yesterday with 3-0
starts. The Crocs are last
without a win in four games.
The Wildcats won 74-65 on
the road against Melbourne,
NT NEWS. Monday, October 22, 2012.
a result that also left the
Tigers without a win on 0-3.
Dave Gruber starred for
the Hawks with 14 points and
four rebounds and Adris
Deleon had a team-high 15
points. Peter Crawford led
Townsville with 18 points.
‘‘The pleasing thing was
the disruption. I thought the
guys did a real good job
defensively,’’ Hawks coach
Gordie McLeod said.
Melbourne paid for 25
turnovers and allowing
Perth 15 offensive rebounds
in the Tigers’ first home
game of the season.
Last season’s MVP Kevin
Lisch led the Wildcats with
16 points. Seth Scott (16
points, nine rebounds) and
Kevin Braswell (18 points)
stood out for Melbourne.
Perth coach Rob Beveridge
admitted to surprise his team
was making such a strong
start.
‘‘Personally, I would have
been pleased if we started
with three wins from five
games,’’ he said.
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