Wimbledon line-calling tech malfunctions as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claims game was ‘stolen'
The Russian put the controversy behind her to beat the British player 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in just over two hours on Centre
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1News
7 hours ago
- 1News
David Havili among 8 NZers in squad to face British and Irish Lions
Crusaders' Super Rugby title-winning captain David Havili has been selected among the New Zealand contingent for the invitational AUNZ squad to face the British and Irish Lions on Saturday. The full squad of Australians and New Zealanders for Saturday's tour game in Adelaide was confirmed by coach Les Kiss on Monday and will feature a core of players from his Queensland Reds franchise. Halves pairing Kalani Thomas and Harry McLaughlin-Phillips were involved when the Reds lost 52-12 last week in Brisbane after leading the Lions 12-7 early in the first half. This is the first time since 1989 that a combined squad of Australians and New Zealanders will take on the touring Lions lineup, which contains players from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Havili, Blues hooker Kurt Eklund and Chiefs prop George Dyer will join All Blacks Aidan Ross, Folau Fakatava, Hoskins Sotutu, Ngani Laumape and Shannon Frizell in the squad. ADVERTISEMENT Marika Koroibete, Pete Samu, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Matt Philip and Seru Uru are experienced Wallabies included in the invitational squad. Kiss will be joined on the coaching team by former All Blacks coach Ian Foster, Western Force coach Simon Cron and Reds assistant Zane Hilton. "We have quality coaches and a highly motivated group of players that represent the depth of talent across Australia and New Zealand," Kiss said. "Each of them has a lot to play for and there's a real sense of anticipation about the unique opportunity in front of us. "As the first AUNZ side to be assembled in 36 years, we have the chance to do something pretty special here in Adelaide." Jack Conan of the British & Irish Lions runs at the defence during their game against the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, Australia, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (Source: Associated Press) The Lions are 3-0 since a 28-24 loss to Argentina in a warmup in Dublin before the traveling Down Under for their nine-game tour, which includes three Tests against the Wallabies on July 19, 26 and Aug. 2. After wins over Western Force in Perth, Queensland Reds in Brisbane and New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney, the Lions will play the Brumbies in Canberra on Wednesday before taking on the AUNZ squad in their final preparation for the Test series. Australia opened its international season with a 21-18 comeback win over Fiji in Newcastle on Sunday, a day after New Zealand held off France 31-27 in Dunedin. AUNZ XV squad: Aidan Ross, AJ Lam, Angus Blyth, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Daniel Botha, Darby Lancaster, David Havili, Folau Fakatava, George Dyer, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, Hoskins Sotutu, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Jock Campbell, Joe Brial, Joey Walton, Joshua Fusitu'a, Kalani Thomas, Kurt Eklund, Lachlan Anderson, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Mac Grealy, Marika Koroibete, Matt Philip, Ngani Laumape, Pete Samu, Richie Asiata, Seru Uru, Shannon Frizell, Shaun Stevenson, Tane Edmed.
Otago Daily Times
16 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Norrie survives to reach quarter-finals
Women's top seed Aryna Sabalenka and men's defending champion Carlos Alcaraz both survived tough tests to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals and Cameron Norrie kept alive British singles hopes after surviving a five-set thriller. Sabalenka ruined home favourite Emma Raducanu's dream in the previous round but had the Centre Court crowd cheering her on as she beat Elise Mertens 6-4 7-6(4) in a high-quality duel on Sunday. Wimbledon's new automated line-calling technology came under fire after an embarrassing malfunction robbed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of a point during her last-16 victory over Britain's Sonay Kartal on Centre Court. Spaniard Alcaraz came through a ferocious firefight against Russian 14th seed Andrey Rublev 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 6-4 to stay on course for a third successive title. "Andrey is one of the most powerful players we have on Tour and is so aggressive with the ball. He forces you to the limit on each point," Alcaraz, bidding to become only the fourth man to win back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles multiple times, said on court. The 22-year-old second seed extended his current winning streak to 22 matches and will take on Norrie for a place in the semi-finals after the unseeded Briton soaked up 46 aces from towering Chilean Nicolas Jarry to win a feisty Court One battle 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(7) 6-7(5) 6-3. While Alcaraz seeks a Wimbledon hat-trick, Sabalenka is eyeing her first title on the London lawns after missing last year's tournament with injury and the 2022 edition due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, and the 27-year-old made a fast start against Mertens. Sabalenka, who claimed doubles titles at the US Open and Australian Open partnering Mertens, was then put through the wringer before raising her level to prevail. The victory improved her win-loss record against Belgian Mertens to 11-2 and she said the growing adoration of the crowd made a big difference after fans were on the other side of the fence when she met Raducanu on Friday. "I definitely felt the support. It was so amazing playing and feeling the support. I didn't have to pretend that they were cheering for me because they were really cheering for me," said Sabalenka, who will face the 37-year-old German Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals. "What can be better than that? I really enjoyed it. I hope it can stay the same all the way, and they help me energy-wise to stay strong and to face all of the challenges." HEAVY SHOWERS Siegemund, the second-oldest player to start in the women's draw this year, swatted aside plucky Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra with a 6-3 6-2 victory in a Court Two match interrupted by the heavy showers that prompted organisers to shut the roofs for the day's play on Centre Court and Court One. While Sierra was the first lucky loser to reach the last 16 in the professional era, Siegemund created her own slice of history by becoming the oldest woman to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final. Explaining her run, Siegemund said it was simple. "It's like you have an opponent. Either you find good solutions and you execute well, you go forward, or you don't, and you don't go forward. So it's very simple," she said. Sierra's fellow South American, Jarry, fought back brilliantly against Norrie after saving a match point in the third-set tiebreak but fell short in a needle match. Jarry seemed irritated at times during the heat of battle and the players exchanged words at the end. "Cameron played unbelievable. Not unbelievable, played great. He did his job. He plays like that," said qualifier Jarry, whose total ace count reached a tournament-leading 111. Asked what happened, Norrie said there had been no problem. "I think he just said I was being a little bit too vocal. Honestly, nothing but credit to Nico for his performance. I guess we both really wanted to win." Norrie, a 2022 semi-finalist, is the last British hope after the unseeded Kartal's run ended with a 7-6(3) 6-4 defeat by experienced Russian Pavlyuchenkova. American fifth seed Taylor Fritz marched on after his Australian opponent Jordan Thompson retired with a thigh injury at 6-1 3-0 down in their fourth-round meeting. Up next for Fritz is a meeting with Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov who thumped Poland's Kamil Majchrzak 6-4 6-2 6-3. Fritz is not the only American to reach the quarter-finals, after 13th seed Amanda Anisimova beat Linda Noskova 6-2 5-7 6-4 in the day's final action.
Otago Daily Times
17 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Wimbledon line-calling system under fire
Wimbledon's automated line-calling technology is under fire after an embarrassing malfunction robbed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of a point during her last-16 victory over Sonay Kartal. Russian Pavlyuchenkova had reached game point at 4-4 in the opening set on Centre Court on Sunday when Kartal, of Britain, hit a shot that looked clearly long but there was no call and Pavlyuchenkova stopped play. An automated voice call of "STOP STOP" rang out and confusion reigned as umpire Nico Helwerth sought advice from tournament organisers via telephone. Television replays showed that Kartal's shot was clearly out, yet Helwerth ruled that because the Hawk-Eye technology had not tracked the ball, the point needed to be replayed. Pavlyuchenkova went on to drop serve and was fuming at the changeover, telling the umpire: "Because she is local, they can say whatever. You took the game away from me. They stole the game from me. You stole the game from me". The 34-year-old quickly recovered and showed the resilience that has marked her long career by reaching the quarter-finals with a 7-6(3) 6-4 win. But the main talking point was Wimbledon's automated line-calling system that has replaced human judges this year. OPERATOR ERROR Tournament officials later said the problem had been caused by operator error and that the umpire had followed the correct protocols, although Pavlyuchenkova felt that he should have intervened to correct an obvious mistake. "We were waiting for a decision as the system was down, but I was expecting to hear if they said the ball was in or out," Pavlyuchenkova said. "Instead they just said, replay the point. It was tricky especially as it was a very crucial moment in the match. "I expected a different decision. I just thought also the chair umpire could take the initiative. That's why he's there sitting on the chair. He also saw it (was) out, he told me after the match. I thought he would do that, but he didn't. "I think it's also difficult for him. He probably was scared to take such a big decision." Asked how she would have felt if the point had cost her the match, Pavlyuchenkova raised a smile: "I would just say that I hate Wimbledon and never come back here." KARTAL UNSIGHTED Kartal said she had been unsighted as to whether her shot was out. "That situation is a rarity. I don't think it's really ever happened," she said. "It's tough luck. What can you do? The umpire is trying his best. I think he handled it fine." Pavlyuchenkova, who felt a back-up system needed to be in place, is not the first person this week to question the Electronic Line Calling (ELC) system. Britain's Emma Raducanu said there had been wrong calls during her loss to Aryna Sabalenka. "No, I don't (trust the system) - I think the other players would say the same thing, there were some pretty dodgy ones but what can you do?," she said after her defeat. Britain's Jack Draper also believed it was not 100% accurate while Swiss player Belinda Bencic said it was a hot topic in the locker rooms. Pavlyuchenkova said it was something that needed to be addressed. "I think since we have already automatic line-calling and so much invested into this, we should probably look into something else to have better decisions on it," she said. In a later statement, organisers said they had apologised to both of the players, saying an investigation found that the ELC system had been deactivated for one game, with three calls not picked up, two of which had been called by the umpire. "We continue to have full confidence in the accuracy of the ball-tracking technology," the statement said. "The live ELC system relies on the Hawk-Eye operators, the Review Official and the technology to work in harmony. "This did not happen. In this instance there was a human error and as a consequence we have fully reviewed our processes and made the appropriate changes."
