Weekend sport wrap

SBS World News Radio: It was another busy weekend in sport, with action in the A-League and AFL, some big-time tennis, and some very special athletics just part of what was on offer.

Weekend sport wrapWeekend sport wrap

Weekend sport wrap

There's just two weeks until the A-League finals, and the six teams who will fight it out to be the kings of Australian football are all but set - but there's not much tolerance for taking a rest on your way to the big showdown, and it showed in Round 25.

Melbourne Victory needed merely a draw to clinch second place, whilst Wellington Phoenix, playing them away in Melbourne, needed to win just to have a chance of making the top six.

Advantage: Melbourne.

Until the game kicked off, that is.

Two excellent Roly Bonevacia goals from long-distance helped the Phoenix to a three-nil win and a hope of overtaking either the Western Sydney Wanderers or Perth Glory for a finals place.

No Victory-style slackening off from leaders Sydney FC, though.

Having already clinched first place, they beat Melbourne City three-nil to put themselves a whopping 17 points clear of their nearest competition.

Coach Graham Arnold is pleased with not only the results his side is getting, but how they are getting them.

"When you see us playing that type of football...the exciting style of football that we're playing...teams are struggling when they come here to deal with it."

In the AFL, round two of 2017 saw a re-match of the ultimate game of 2016.

And much like last year's Grand Final, the Western Bulldogs defeated the Sydney Swans.

However, sport often brings mixed emotions, whether you win or lose.

Sydney coach John Longmire is in the unusual position of seeing his side winless from their first two matches this season.

He knows it's not all bad, but he also knows what his team has done so far isn't good enough, either.

"Our effort and intensity around the ball was fantastic. The ability to be able to come back and hit the front was fantastic. But you don't get any points for it, and that's the reality of it."

Indeed, these are unusual times to start this AFL season.

Port Adelaide is top of the standings after thrashing Fremantle and that sets up a massive showdown with the team in second-place, local rivals the Adelaide Crows, next Saturday night.

And Melbourne, downtrodden seemingly forever these days, are also two wins from two matches.

Their next assignment is against fellow undefeated side Geelong.

And amongst those joining the Swans on the zero out of two list: perennial contenders Hawthorn.

To tennis and, like him or loathe him, it's hard to ignore Nick Kyrgios.

The 21 year-old Australian faced a task as tough as any in sport over the weekend: a semi-final matchup in an important tournament - the Miami Masters - against Roger Federer.

And, whilst there were the trademark flashes of temper, even his harshest critic can't deny he put up a very good fight against a living legend.

All three sets went to tie-breaks, with Federer ultimately prevailing.

Here's how Kyrgios sums up his own performance in that match.

"I showed a lot of fight, I thought I competed for every point, obviously I'm an emotional guy I had some ups and downs but overall a bit of a rollercoaster but, ultimately I think I put in a good performance, I thought the crowd would've enjoyed watching it, people at home would've enjoyed watching it so, I don't know...as I said, I wouldn't be surprised if they find something bad though."

And there are few people in Australian sport better at their job than Sally Pearson.

She won a gold medal at the London Olympics, only to miss the chance to defend it in Rio de Janiero last year due to injury.

But now she's national women's 100 metres hurdles champion for the eighth time.

She blew away the field in Sydney to book a spot in August's World Championship in London.

If you subtract the tail wind, her time of 12.53 seconds is her fastest since the Moscow World Championships of 2013.

An emotional Pearson says this latest triumph is very special to her.

"I guess I don't have anything to prove as an athlete, but to be able to come back here and do this today, it really means a lot to me."

And in rugby league, the Melbourne Storm is the only undefeated team through five rounds of the NRL competition.

They defeated Penrith 28 points to 6 on Saturday night, whilst the only other unbeaten team entering the weekend, the Sydney Roosters, fell to Manly, 18 points to 12.

 

 


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5 min read

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By Sunil Awasthi



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