By David OwenThere was more than one sports story in Manchester on Tuesday.At the city's Aquatics Centre, a couple of miles down the Stretford Road from the Old Trafford stadium where David Moyes, the Manchester United football manager, had just finished clearing out his desk, Great Britain's women's water polo team recorded a noteworthy - and, who knows, possibly life-changing - victory.Through 32 minutes of supreme collaborative effort, no little skill and bucket-loads of guts and bloody-mindedness, the 13 white-capped dervishes succeeded in upsetting world champions Spain by a 9-7 scoreline.

To be so blunt and out of the blue like that - mid-season, a new coach, all stuck in Europe [at a variety

France, who strikes me as just the sort of role model Britain needs, but who is now thinking of going to New

Zealand."

By Nick ButlerApril 23 - Wales' Commonwealth Games netball preparations have been hit with three months to go until Glasgow 2014 by coach Melissa Hyndman, once described as the Sir Alex Ferguson of the sport, temporarily leaving her post due to personal circumstances.

Watson, chief executive of Welsh Netball, has confirmed to Wales Online that Hyndman, a 45-year-old from New

Zealand, is currently not at work and that this was due to personal reasons.He has not elaborated on

some of the powerhouses of the sport in Glasgow, including neighbours England as well as Australia and New

Zealand, but at this crucial late stage the absence of Hyndman will be a crucial blow.The Glasgow 2014

By Gary AndersonApril 23 - Australia emerged from day three of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup in Hyères as the leading nation with Mat Belcher and Will Ryan topping the men's 470 standings, while Nacra 17 duo Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis lead the way in their class.

the lead after they performed superbly on the day, picking up two wins from two, finishing ahead of New

Zealand pair Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie on both occasions.The Kiwis are still ahead overall, with Americans

third and fifth sees them lead the way, while reigning world champions Alex Maloney and Molly Meech of New

Zealand picked up a first win of the week to lie in third.Two race victories sees Dutchman Pieter Jan

Zealand sailors impress on opening day of season's final World Cup eventApril 2014: World's best to

By Gary AndersonApril 22 - New Zealand will be represented by a team of 15 lawn bowlers at this year's

and will be led by veterans Val Smith, Jo Edwards and Ali Forsyth who will be joined by some exciting new

part in the able-bodied competitions at the Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre while five will represent New

Zealand in the Para-sport lawn bowls events.Smith, a silver medallist in the singles at Delhi 2010,

compete in the singles competition as well.Selina Goddard revealed her surprise at being selected on New

disabled triples event while David Stallard and Sue Curran will contest the partially sighted pairs.New Zealand

New Zealand has had mixed results over the last 18 months in international competitions and we know competition

By Gary AndersonApril 22 - The second day of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup in Hyères was a good one for Britain as Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond dominated the Nacra 17 class, while two other British boats topped their classes at the end of the qualification stage.

Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen in third, while world champions Alex Maloney and Molly Meech of New

Zealand are well placed in fourth.Britain's Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth are hoping to better

compatriots Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski registered one race win to claim third spot overall.New Zealand

week as leader Tonci Stipanovic of Croatia is jut nine points clear of seventh place man Sam Meech of New

Zealand sailors impress on opening day of season's final World Cup eventApril 2014: World's best to

By Gary AndersonApril 21 - Hosts France and New Zealand were the dominant nations on the first day of

after registering two wins in his opening races, while Rober Scheidt of Brazil, Swede Jesper Stalheim, New

race win to sit in overall second after day one ©RYADespite getting off to a poor start in race one, New

Ireland's Annalise Murphy and Tatiana Drozdovskaya of Belarus, while a first and an eighth place sees New

By Gary AndersonApril 18 - Hosts Netherlands will take on two-time champions the United States on the opening day of action at this year's Women's Softball World Championship, it has been announced today.

will be in action on the first day of the Championships in Haarlem on August 15 with former champions New

Zealand taking on Russia, Italy versus Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico facing former runners-up Canada

Section B playing each other once.Section A contains Japan, Canada, China, Puerto Rico, Czech Republic, New

Zealand, Russia and Cuba, while Section B is made up of the US, Australia, Netherlands, Chinese Taipei

By Gary AndersonApril 17 - French digital terrestrial television channel L'Equipe 21 has secured the host broadcast rights for the upcoming European Judo Championships in Montpellier, which are due to take place next week.

departments.L'Equipe's coverage will also be available on a non-exclusive basis in Vanuatu, Tonga, Australia, New

Zealand, Trinidad, Venezuela, Fiji Islands, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles, Haiti, Dominican

sprint trio Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins are among 14 track cyclists announced in the New

Zealand squad for this year's Commonwealth Games, while six triathletes have also been named to the

Zealand to gold in the triathlon mixed team relay at Strathclyde Park ©Getty Images Meantime, New Zealand

Both bike and triathlon are high profile New Zealand sports and we know the athletes will have the support

of the nation behind them," said New Zealand Olympic Committee chief executive Kereyn Smith."

Zealand names nine-strong shooting team for Commonwealth Games in GlasgowSeptember 2012: Triathlon New

Zealand selects Briton to lead them to Rio 2016

By Gary AndersonApril 17 - Organisers of this year's International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics European Championships in Swansea have put 15,000 tickets for the event on sale today.

during the competition.Prior to London 2012, the university hosted training camps for the Mexican and New

Zealand Paralympic teams.The Championships, which are being delivered in partnership with Swansea Council

OsborneApril 17 - Delhi 2010 gold medallists Mike Collings and John Snowden will lead a nine-strong New

Zealand shooting team to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The duo will be joined by 21-year-old Jenna McKenzie, the first New Zealander to shoot in all three small

the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi ©Getty ImagesGavin Paton, sport development manager for Shooting New

Zealand, congratulated what he called a, considerably experienced national team, following their selection

Ricky Zhao and Jenna McKenzie will be competing at their first Commonwealth Games.Shooting is one of New

Zealand will have around 200 athletes at the Games, competing in all 17 sports on the programme.Contact

By Gary AndersonApril 16 - Global payments firm MasterCard has renewed its partnership with Rugby World Cup Limited, which will see it act as the preferred card and official payment system of Rugby World Cup 2015.

association with the event after it struck a deal to become the official partner of Rugby World Cup 2011 in New

New Zealand star Dan Carter was at the announcement of the deal in London and practised his kicking by

Rugby World Cup 2015 worldwide partners along with Gilbert as official ball supplier, Canterbury of New

Zealand as official sportswear supplier and Clifford Chance as official law firm.Dan Carter will be

looking to help New Zealand defend their World Cup title at England 2015 ©Getty Images "We are excited

By Gary AndersonApril 16 - The fifth and final International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup event of the season gets underway in Hyères, France, next week and will see some top-level racing taking place between a host of the world's best sailors including reigning Olympic and world champions.

fleet also contains world number two pairing Lucas Calabrese and Juan de la Fuente of Argentina and New

Zealand duo Paul Snow Hansen and Dan Willcox, who sit at number five on the world rankings.Fellow Kiwis

regatta outings.Australia's Olympic champions Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen will also look to deny New

Zealand gold in the men's 49er as they take on reigning European and world champions Peter Burling and

By Nick ButlerApril 15 - New Zealand's International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Barry Maister has

his 40 years of service in the sports world was recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Sport New

Zealand.

Maister, who received the honour at the annual New Zealand Sport and Recreational Awards in Christchurch

Zealand Olympic Committee before being elected an IOC member in 2010.Among various other roles, Maister

New Zealand rugby chief executive Steve Tew was also recognised by Sport New Zeland ©Getty ImagesElsewhere

in Christchurch, the prestigious Christopher Doig Leadership Award was awarded to New Zealand Rugby

Zealand New Year's Honours listApril 2010: New Zealand Olympic chief to step down to concentrate on

By Gary AndersonApril 10 - The full match schedule for the 2014 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Basketball World Cup has been revealed, as 24 teams do battle across six Spanish cities later this year.

Arena in Bilbao - the base for Group C - which also sees Ukraine start against Dominican Republic and New

Zealand take on another wildcard entry, Turkey.African champions Angola will get Group D underway as