Casey Stoner of Australia and the Ductai Team prepares for practice for the Australian MotoGP at the Phillip Island Circuit . (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Motorcycle Prix (Phillip Island)
Australia's Casey Stoner has bettered the circuit lap record in early practice for this weekend's Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.
The defending champion dominated the session on his Ducati, leading throughout the one-hour run from new world champion Valentino Rossi
Stoner clocked a fastest lap of one minute 30.094 seconds - faster than the lap record set by Italian Marco Melandri during the 2005 Grand Prix.
League Grand Eagles (Sydney)
Manly prop Jason King says he's just happy to be playing in Sunday's NRL grand final after serious ankle injuries almost ended his season twice this year.
King will start on the bench after fearing his season was over when he injured his ankle in round seven against the Bulldogs and then again round 19 against Parramatta.
Golf Presidents (Brisbane)
Greg Norman has named New Zealand's Frank Nobilo as his captain's assistant for the International Team for next year's Presidents Cup against the USA in San Francisco.
Auckland-born Nobilo got the nod from the Shark ahead of close friend Nick Price, who would have been a good fit for the strong South African contingent likely to make up Norman's powerful team.
Cricket Aust McGrath (Hyderabad)
Australian great Glenn McGrath says India have their best chance to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the Test series which starts in Bangalore next week.
While McGrath still backs Australia, he has concerns over the number of tourists getting their first taste of cricket in India.
Tennis WTA (Tokyo)
Australian tennis player Samantha Stosur has continued her fine form with an upset victory over the second seed at the Japan Open.
Stosur, who reached the Korean Open final last week, eliminated Spaniard Anabel Medina Ggarrigues 6-1 7-5 to progress to the quarter-finals in Tokyo.
Tennis Women (Stuttgart)
Wimbledon champion Venus Williams will take on world number three Dinara Safina in the quarter-finals of Stuttgart's WTA event after a comfortable second-round win.
Williams needed a little over an hour and hit 12 aces in overpowering Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko6-4 6-2, while SAFINA had to work for her 6-1 7-6 win over Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova.
Tennis Challenge (Adelaide)
Australians Mark Philippoussis and Pat Cash will headline the inaugural World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide next January.
Philippoussis and Cash will form Australia's team in the unique event in which the host nation will compete against US, French and Swedish teams containing former greats Jim Courier, Mats Wilanda and Henri Leconte.
Golf LPGA (Half Moon Bay, California)
South Korea's women's British Open champion Ji-Yai Shin has fired a five-under 67 to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Samsung World Championship in California.
Australian Katherine Hull carded a 70 and Karrie Webb a disappointing 74.
League Sharks (Adelaide)
Cronulla will play a home game in Adelaide for the next three NRL seasons.
The Sharks will play North Queensland next year on the weekend of April 17-20 at Hindmarsh Stadium, the home of A-League soccer club Adelaide United, which has a capacity of 16,500 people.
