In our weekly feature on the ins and outs in women's sport, the Women's Super League as well as the Women's Six Nations clash between Scotland and England were victims of Storm Ciara over the weekend.

A week in the world of women's sport

A week in the world of women's sport

Cricket

England have missed out on the Twenty20 series final in Australia after losing the final group game against the hosts by 16 runs.

After beating India by four wickets on the back of a 38-ball 50 from Nat Schriver to keep their hopes alive, England were hoping to carry that momentum in their last round-robin match.

And they executed their plan in the first part of the game brilliantly as they restricted the hosts to 132 for seven with Beth Mooney the only batter to do damage with 50 from 40 balls. Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn each picked up two wickets for under five runs to the over.

However, England's batting line-up never got going as Sophie Molineux (3/19) did most of the damage as the visitors could only muster 117 for seven in reply.

"I'm really disappointed. I thought that was probably our best bowling performance of the trip. We didn't quite adapt with the bat" England captain Heather Knight said.

The final between Australia and India will take place in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Over in New Zealand, the White Ferns have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in their T20 series against South Africa after winning the fourth match by a comfortable 69 runs.

Their win was set up by Sophie Devine as the skipper 105 from 73 balls - her maiden T20 century - helped the hosts to 171 for two. South Africa were then bundled out for 102.

The final match will take place in Dunedin on Thursday.

Golf

Hee Young Park's title drought is over as the South Korean won her first LPGA Tour trophy in nearly seven years when she won a three-way play-off at the Victoria Open in Australia.

The 32-year-old carded a final round one-over 73 to tie with compatriots Choi Hye-jin and Ryu So-yeon at eight-under 281.

She then won the fourth play-off hole to become the oldest Korean to win an LPGA Tour title, aged 32 years, eight months and 16 days.

"Last year was the worst year in my life and I had to go to q-school and I was going to stop golf because I thought (there was) no more game in my mind," Park said. "Then I made q-school and I had a chance to play another year this year.

"I never stopped and I think God gave to me this present."

Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour has cancelled two more early-season events due to the coronavirus with the Honda LPGA Thailand (February 20-23) and the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore (February 27-March 1) both cut from the 2020 schedule.

The Tour had already cancelled the Blue Bay tournament in Hainan, China

"It is always a difficult decision to cancel events and the LPGA greatly appreciates the understanding and all the efforts made by our title sponsors as well as IMG to host incredible events for our players," a statement read.

"The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority."

Football

Storm Ciara caused havoc in the Women's Super League on Sunday as all fixtures were postponed.

Everton were due to host Liverpool in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and 20,000 people were expected, but it will now take place at a yet to be determined date.

There was some international football over the weekend as North American giants the United States and Canada squared off in the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament final in Carson, California.

Both teams had already booked their places at Tokyo 2020, but USWNT came away with a 3-0 win on the evening as Lynn Williams, Lindsey Horan and Megan Rapinoe found the back of the net.

Rugby

The Women's Six Nations Championship was also a victim of Storm Ciara as Scotland's encounter against England at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow, was postponed due to extreme weather.

The match has been rescheduled for Monday 13:30 at Murrayfield, but it will be behind closed doors due to safety concerns for spectators.

As for the matches that did take place, France and Ireland were the big winners.

And if you had any doubt about how bad the weather was, here is an incredible picture from @DanSheridan2012 at Donnybrook in Dublin during Ireland's clash against Wales.

But the autrocious conditions didn't stop Ireland Women from making it two from two as they beat Wales 31-12.

Beibhinn Parsons, Lauren Delany, Cliodhna Moloney and Linda Djougang all crossed the whitewash for the hosts while Lauren Smyth and Siwan Lillicrap replied for Wales.

There were no weather problems in Limoges as Les Bleues beat Italy 45-10 with Audrey Forlani, Cyrielle Banet (2), Laure Sansus and Laure Sansus all scored tries for the hosts while Sara Barattin scored an intercept try for the Italy.

Tennis

It was Fed Cup week in the world of women's tennis, but sadly Team Great Britain failed to qualify for the Finals as they lost their qualifier 3-1 against Slovakia.

Heather Watson and Harriet Dart lost their opening rubbers before the former gave GB hope with victory over Rebecca Sramkova, but Dart's defeat at the hands of Anna Karolina Schmiedlova gave hosts Slovakia an unassailable 3-1 lead.

Captain Anne Keothavong, though, was proud of her team's display.

The United States just about secured their place in April's Finals after they held off a fighting Latvia 3-2 with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin winning the deciding doubles.

After Serena Williams and Sofia Kenin won their opening doubles matches, Latvia came storming back Jelena Ostapenko beat newly-crowned Australian Open champion Kenin in the reverse doubles.

Anastasija Sevastova then stunned Williams, handing the 23-time Grand Slam winner her first-ever Fed Cup singles defeat.

However, Mattek-Sands and Kenin teamed up to beat Ostapenko and Sevastova 6-4, 6-0.

Slovakia and the United States will be joined by Australia, France, Czech Republic, Spain, Russia, Germany, Belarus, Switzerland, Belgium, and hosts Hungary at the Finals.

How about this for inspirational news?

Former world No 1 Kim Clijsters will make her second comeback at the Dubai Duty Free Championships, which starts on February 17.

The 36-year-old mother of three retired in September 2012, but announced at the backend of 2019 that she would a return this year and now the day edging closer after she confirmed she will play in Dubai.

"I am really excited to be getting back to the match court," the four-time Grand Slam winner said. "I know it’s a special anniversary for the Dubai Duty Free Championships so it’s a honour to be making my return to the game and debut in Dubai at the same time.

"I can’t wait to return to the game I love and play in front of the fans again – the support and encouragement that I’ve received since the announcement has been overwhelming."

By Shahida Jacobs, editor of Tennis365.com


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