Sport in brief

Press, 5 April 1989, Page 32

Sport in brief

Todd survives course PA London Mark Todd did what many professional jockeys have failed to achieve on Monday — he galloped around the famous Grand National course at Aintree without falling off. But afterwards the double Olympic equestrian gold medallist said that he would not want to do it in an actual race. "It was a pretty frightening experience,” he confessed back at his home in Wiltshire. Todd undertook the hazardous task in a contest between stars from the eventing world and professional jockeys to raise money for charity. Volleyballers chosen PA Auckland The New Zealand women’s volleyball team for the Princess Cup international tournament in Bangkok, from July 11 to 16 is.— L. Cockerill, M. Reynolds, C. Stewart, P. Tuavera (Auckland), N. Fake, M. Kaio, S. Mills-Garner (Kawerau), S. Harrison, S. Tilby (Dunedin), A. Stojanovic, D. Cullidge (Christchurch), V. Weld (Te Puke). Manager-coach R. Bleyendaal (Christchurch). Delegation head: J. Drummond (Christchurch). The team was announced after trials in Tauranga and Christchurch, and selection squad training in Auckland during Easter. Michigan on top NZPA-Reuter Seattle Rumeal Robinson hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left in overtime to give Michigan the United States collegiate men’s basketball championship with a dramatic, SO--79, win over Seton Hall yesterday. It was’ the first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball title for the Michigan Wolverines. The , Seton Hall Pirates were also going for their first title. “I am the happiest man alive right now,” said the Michigan interim '' coach, Steve Fisher, who took over coaching duties just before « the tournament began. “Rumeal is such a gutsy kid,” he said of Robinson’s poise at ; the foul line with Michigan down, 79-78. Michigan led, 37-32, at IT half-time and early in the second half built the lead to 11 •- points, 49-38. | Sprinter testifies NZPA-Reuter Toronto ... A retired Canadian sprinter, Tony Sharpe, testified yesterday that he saw team-mate Ben Johnson injected with banned *2 muscle-building steroids in 1984 at a Summer Olympics ■_ training camp. - Johnson won an Olympic 100 metres gold medal and a 9.79- ” second world record in Seoul last September but was stripped Z of both after he tested positive for using a banned anabolic steroid. Sharpe, aged 27, told a judicial inquiry into the use of Z drugs in amateur sports that he and Johnson were injected with growth hormones at a training camp on the Caribbean .■ island of Guadeloupe in the spring of 1984. ; Park looking good PA Auckland £ Eden Park should be in perfect condition for Auckland’s opening home rugby match of the South Pacific championship • against Canterbury on Sunday week. The Eden Park groundstaff under, the turf manager, Stuart ,* Cameron-Lee, have worked long hours on the No. 1 ground to ensure it will be ready for the Auckland-Canterbury game. The “ cricket pitch, used for the recent test between New Zealand " and Pakistan, was completely bare of grass five weeks ago and there was some concern then that it might not be ready for the ” April 16 match. But with 12 days still to go the ground is £ looking immaculate. : Chch misses marathon >« PA London £ Christchurch has lost out to London to stage the 1991 World k Cup marathon, the “Evening Standard” newspaper reported '■ yesterday. The paper said that London was awarded the race — which will be held in conjunction with the annual London « Marathon —at a meeting of the world governing body in Gothenburg, Sweden. Ml ■ J*? : Match washed out * NZPA-Reuter Kingstown, St Vincent “ The third day of India’s match against the West Indies Z Cricket Board XI was abandoned on Monday without a ball * being bowled. 41 _ . ... “ The playing area was still waterlogged from the torrential *. rain which washed out the second day after just 18 overs had " been bowled. The opening day of the four-day match was also ‘-mt to the weath %r r nd j a reached 38 for two on Sunday before Play was