Shooting
Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Natalie Rooney has won gold at the Oceania Shooting Championships to secure qualification for Tokyo 2020.
Rooney hit 37 targets in the final to beat Australia’s Lisa Smith, who finished as the runner-up on 33.
Chloe Tipple earlier won New Zealand's first gold medal of the event after dominating the women’s skeet final.
Shooting in variable conditions, Tipple set a Oceania record of 54 targets.
Tipple had already secured a Tokyo 2020 quota position earlier this year for New Zealand.
Above: Natalie Rooney at the Oceania Champs
Triathlon
Andrea Hewitt has come from behind to win the Santo Domingo World Cup.
The Kiwi, whose last victory was in the World Triathlon Series in Gold Coast in 2017, looked a mix of confused and thrilled when she crossed the finish line, still digesting what had just happened.
“It was crazy out there. I was in third at halfway and I had two girls on my back. I was running for the podium but then I found myself in front of the tape. I didn’t even know that I had won today”, she said.
Santo Domingo wraps-up the 2019 Triathlon World Cup season, with the 2020 World Cups starting next year in Cape Town in February.
Hockey
The women’s Black Sticks have announced the return of two highly experienced former players to the 2020 squad.
Kayla Whitelock and Gemma and McCaw will feature in the squad for the first time since the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The side will again be led by Stacey Michelsen who in the 2019 season became the most capped Vantage Black Sticks Women’s player of all time when she overtook the record of 274 caps held by Emily Gaddum.
Michelsen, who has previously been to the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, will be aiming to lead her side to the first medal in the programme’s history at the upcoming Games.
There are six players with more than 200 test caps in the side and this experience will be vital as they prepare to improve on their sixth placing at the inaugural FIH Hockey Pro League in 2019.
Coach Graham Shaw commented on naming his first national squad, “We feel the squad has a good mix of youth and experience as we start building towards the 2020 Tokyo games”.
“We have been lucky to welcome back Kayla and Gemma after they stepped away to start families. We look forward to the invaluable experience that they will bring and the pivotal role they will play in helping our team towards our goal of medalling at the Olympic Games”.
Football
The Football Ferns have signed off on their year with a 3-0 loss to Canada, leaving coach Tom Sermanni with plenty to ponder as he looks to plot a successful campaign at the Olympic Games next year in Tokyo.
The classy North Americans finished deserved winners after a first-half header was followed by a quick-fire double mid-way through the second half.
“I thought we were more competitive tonight and the players put in a really good effort to keep in the game as long as we could. Ultimately, we were just beaten by a team that had better quality and were better than us physically,” said coach Tom Sermanni.
Reflecting on the two matches in China, Sermanni was pleased to have tested players with his Olympic selections in mind.
“We’ve got a really open mind about who we pick for the Olympics and it’s about players stepping up and performing to make sure they’re picked.”
Lawn Bowls
And in Lawn Bowls Debbie White took out the silver medal in Adelaide at the World Singles Champion of Champions tournament!
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