By David GoldDecember 4 - England have retained their Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens title with a 29-12 victory over France in Dubai in the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

behind Fiji, who they beat on their way to the final, as well as defeating nine time series winners New

To play New Zealand and Fiji in the quarter and semi-finals certainly stiffened the sinews and made us

By David GoldDecember 4 - Today's games at hockey's Champions Trophy in Auckland were cancelled as a result of torrential rain and flooding, with the matches being moved to tomorrow.

by the Spain versus Pakistan game in Pool A.The Netherlands will face Germany on the same day, with New

Zealand facing Korea in Pool B.On Tuesday, Pool A concludes with Spain playing Great Britain and Australia

taking on Pakistan.Pool B's final games are between Korea and Germany, and New Zealand and the Netherlands.Australia

Pool A after the first round of games, as Spain and Pakistan look to play catch up.In Pool B, hosts New

Zealand are also hoping to make up for an opening round defeat to Germany when they take on Korea, who

By Tom DegunDecember 4 - Both the New Zealand men's and women's basketball teams could be denied the

at the London 2012 Olympic Games unless they receive a major funding boost from Sport and Recreation New

Zealand (SPARC).

Basketball New Zealand are waiting anxiously for a decision on their funding application from SPARC subsidiary

High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) which will allow them to compete in next year's final Olympic

qualifying tournaments.Both New Zealand basketball teams missed out on direct qualification for London

Zealand is relying on SPARC funding to cover costs of attending the tournaments and without it, will

Zealand has urged an earlier ruling to meet FIBA deadlines.Both teams would appear to present a worthy

By David GoldDecember 3 - Cadbury has released a re-mixed music video of the classic 1980s Spandau Ballet song "Gold" as the latest part of its Keep Singing Keep Team GB Pumped campaign ahead of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Wenlock and Mandeville to be turned into chocolate and jelly babiesSeptember 2010: Cadbury launch new

2012 initiativeAugust 2010: Exclusive - Cadbury to launch £50 million London 2012 campaign with new

TV advertJanuary 2010: Cadbury to sponsor New Zealand for London 2012 

By David GoldDecember 2 - With Great Britain's men's hockey team in Auckland for the Champions Trophy, coach Jason Lee (pictured) has told insidethegames that his focus is very much on the Olympic Games next year, and says if given the choice, he would take a gold medal in August over victory this month.

to the heavy weights training his squad have been doing, which he admitted may affect their speed in New

Zealand, but would ensure they were at their peak physicall next summer.

We are relatively new to being considered a medal contender – most other countries here have been considered

players prepare for the Champions Trophy – a major step en route to London 2012 which gets underway in New

Zealand on December 3 – the approach to the task being adopted by their coach Jason Lee involves more

The Netherlands, Germany, Korea and New Zealand complete the field in what is regarded as the third most

But he is certainly not piling on the pressure in New Zealand.As the host nation, Britain have been assured

By Duncan MackayNovember 26 - Fiji upset reigning champions New Zealand 26-12 in the final of the

Zealand 12-7 ahead only for Fiji to level when Joeli Lutumailagi raced clear to score.A minute

Fiji, who lost to New Zealand 28-5 in the opening pool game yesterday, advanced to the final after defeating

South Africa 24-7 in the semis, after leading 19-0 at halftime.New Zealand spoiled hosts Australia's

Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens."

HSBC World Series seasonNovember 2011: New Zealand draw Fiji and South Africa meet Australia in

By David OwenNovember 26 - Host nation China completed a clean sweep at the 2011 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships staged in Nanjing, the city that will host the second Summer Youth Olympics in 2014, as the competition came to a close today.

The Chinese men beat New Zealand 5-2 in their final, with South Korea taking bronze.In the women's event

, China overcame South Korea by a score of 11-3, with New Zealand rounding off the podium.China and New

Zealand hence qualified for the men's world curling championship, due to take place in Basel, Switzerland

By Tom Degun at the Oval Cricket Ground in LondonNovember 25 - Sally Brown, the 16-year-old sprint starlet from Ballykelly, has been named the overall winner of the OCS Young Sports Person Awards 2011 at a glittering ceremony here.

Brown is tipped for medal glory this year after her superb performance at the World Championships in New

Zealand in January with a bronze at this year's Paralympic World Cup in Manchester and a gold at the

By Tom DegunNovember 25 - Neil Sorensen, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) general manager, believes

the new funding boost from Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) could help the country achieve gold

Following the success of the New Zealand XV team in winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup on home soil, SPARC

star Dan Carter, should make a one-off appearance in the shorter form of the game.On the men's side, New

Zealand have clearly decided that sevens specialists are the best option but for the women's game, the

be open to any female between the age of 15 and 25 with training camps then established in each of New

By Tom DegunNovember 24 – The Gold Coast are set to stage their first major sporting competition since winning the right to stage the 2018 Commonwealth Games earlier this month with the HSBC Sevens World Series set to get underway in the city.

all really excited about it and playing in a great stadium, the home of the Gold Coast Titans," said New

Zealand captain DJ Forbes."

Pressure is always on New Zealand, and there might be more with being defending champions, but we never

New Zealand and England will be two of the favourites for victory in the Gold Coast along with hosts

Zealand draw Fiji and South Africa meet Australia in HSBC Sevens World SeriesOctober 2011: Gold

So New Zealand's All Black rugby team had to leave its Māori players at home when they toured South Africa

Before going on the 1949 tour, the New Zealand rugby union even announced that "much as it regretted,

By David GoldNovember 23 - The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has agreed a long term partnership with India's largest sports network, Ten Sports, for the rights to broadcast major FIH championships till 2014.

This new agreement for telecast best of men hockey Champions Challenge and Champions Trophy, reaffirms

The Champions Challenge and Champions Trophy in South Africa and New Zealand later this year will be

20 - Australia's women have qualified for the London 2012 Paralympic Games with a 6-2 victory over New

Zealand in the Africa Oceania Goalball Regional Championships in Sydney, though their male counterparts

GoldNovember 20 - Great Britain has named an 18-man squad for hockey's Champions Trophy in Auckland, New

Zealand, next month.

and the World Champions, Australia.Pool B comprises South Korea, Germany, Netherlands and the hosts, New

Zealand, and the top two teams in each pool will progress to the semi-finals.Britain will play Pakistan