Women sport news

Mara Yamauchi today announced that she has decided to retire from elite competition.

The Australian Diamonds task of winning the remaining two Tests to clinch the series against England has been made more difficult with injured captain Natalie von Bertouch to return home.

The Red Bull Nanshan open is in full swing; it was a long day for the Women with their qualifiers and finals both wrapping up on Saturday. World SnowBoard Tour

An emotional day today for Swiss Snowboarding: In Davos, Switzerland Verena Rohrer wins the 5Star World Snowboard Tour Halfpipe contest.

Olympic silver medallist Gemma Gibbons won British Championships senior gold for the first time on her return to action at EIS Sheffield on Sunday.

Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) blasted through heavy snow to finish fifth and lead three U.S. Ski Team women into the top seven as Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg picked up the win. photo US Ski Team

Kikkan Randall (Anchorage/APU Nordic) heads a team of 13 cross country athletes named by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association to compete in the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships Feb.

England Hockey has announced the England women’s squad for the forthcoming Investec Challenge taking place in Cape Town, South Africa, next month.

The Australian Diamonds have suffered just their third ever defeat to England, going down 58-53 in the first Test at the University of Bath on Sunday.

World No.75 Svetlana Kuznetsova upset 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 2-6 7-5 to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since Roland Garros 2011. American 19-year-old Sloane Stephens is through to a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time, defeating Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski in three sets on Monday.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (2013 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women) - There was widespread approval of the draw for the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women with many teams expressing some degree of satisfaction. FIBA

The draw for the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women was held in Vilnius on Thursday, ahead of this summer’s tournament that will take place in Lithuania from 18-28 July. photo FIBA

Across the globe there are currently around 29 million women and girls who play football. FIFA

Chicago Bandits GM, Aaron M. Moore, announced the re-signing of catcher Kristen Butler for the 2013 season. This will be Butler’s second year in a Bandits uniform. Dana Kwit

The IPC Sports Council will meet in Bonn, Germany, this weekend to discuss the key learnings from the London 2012 Paralympic Games and see how all para-sports can progress further and continue to grow in the future.

Serena Williams has ambled through 6-1 6-3 in an hour and six minutes against Ayumi Morita. Top seed Victoria Azarenka has held off an inspired Jamie Hampton to move through to the fourth round of Australian Open 2013 with a 6-4 4-6 6-2 win on Rod Laver Arena Saturday.

The Diamonds are hoping to get Australia's year of Ashes campaigns off to a victorious start when the three-Test series against England commences on Sunday in Bath.

Ivanovic defeated former World Number 1 Jelena Jankovic and meets No.4 seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, who scored a 63 61 win over Heather Watson of Great Britian. Sharapova had a straight sets victory over Venus Williams 61-63.

Alissa Czisny a two-time U.S. champion, has withdrawn from the 2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships due to injury. While competing Saturday at the 2013 Fox Cities Invitational in Appleton.

Sport England Chief Executive Jennie Price has outlined the next steps in plans to get more women taking part in sport regularly

The Peruvian youth girls’ team, gold medal winners at the 2012 South American Youth Girls’ Championship, were the centres of attention at a ceremony to honour them in the government palace in Lima. photo FIVB

For Kim Little, 2012 seemed to represent something of a breakthrough year. After all, while the indisputable talent of Arsenal’s Scottish midfielder has been evident for some time, it was only over the past 12 months that it became visible to a global audience. fifa.com

Serena Williams delivered a power-packed performance on Thursday – but knows that the next generation are on the march to the top of the tennis tree. Caroline Wozniacki handled the challenge from 16-year-old Croat Donna Vekic in straight sets, 6-1 6-4, on Hisense Arena on Thursday.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams breezes into the third round, downing Alize Cornet of France 6-3 6-3 to set up a meeting with Maria Sharapova. Britain's Heather Watson comes back to defeat Ksenia Pervak 4-6 7-6(7) 6-2. Second seed Maria Sharapova advances without losing a game for the second straight match, completely outclassing Japan’s Misaki Doi.

PARIS (Olympics/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Celine Dumerc's inspirational play at the London Games was a big reason why the French women captured a silver medal. photo FIBA

BOURGES (EuroLeague Women/EuroBasket Women) - There is no better time than the present for women’s basketball in Great Britain. photo FIBA