sioned by The Associated Press, the waterways of Rio de

Defending champions Surrey Storm will meet 2014 champions Manchester Thunder in the Vitality Superleague Grand Final after Saturdays semi-finals. After Thunder had booked their place in the Copper Box showpiece with victory over Team Bath 53-46 earlier on Saturday, it was left to rivals Storm and Hertfordshire Mavericks to play out a thriller.Coming down to the final seconds, it was Storm who held on with Rachel Dunns nerve holding to nail the all-important goal that ensured a two-goal deficit would not be hauled back with little time remaining in a 53-51 victory. It means the defending champions Storm will get the chance to keep their trophy when they face a Thunder side that finished top of the regular season standings and keen to make amends for missing out in the semi-finals last year. Player of the Season Your chance to vote on the seasons star turn Dan Ryans team will be equally keen to avenge their only defeat of the regular season, when they were beaten by Storm in Manchester in February.In front of a lively crowd at the Surrey Sports Village, a thrilling first quarter ebbed and flowed with Mavericks recovering from a nervy opening few minutes to edge into a two-goal lead after the first 15 minutes.The second quarter was a cracker with the radars of shooters Rachel Dunn of Storm and Sammy Wallace of Mavericks very much on - Wallace taking Mavericks into a seven-point lead before Dunn and Pamela Cookey led the Surrey fightback. Superleague semi-finals A recap of the semi-finals as they happened With just two points in it at half-time the third quarter was equally as thrilling with Dunn and Cookey finding their range to turn the deficit into a one-point advantage ahead of the final 15 minutes.And there was no let up in the drama as the game ebbed and flowed with brilliance under the posts from both teams and fantastic turnover defence.However it was a turnover and crucial score from Dunn that proved to be crucial, Dunns goal in the final ten second of the game enough to secure a return to the Copper Box for the champions. Reaction from both camps after Manchester Thunder beat Team Bath to progress to the Vitality Superleague Grand Final Manchester was the venue for the opening semi-final of the day and a blistering start from them set the tone for an opening quarter that was to prove crucial against Team Bath.With the visitors slow out of the traps and freezing in the semi-final spotlight, Thunder wasted no time in forging an 8-2 advantage and by the end of the opening 15 minutes they were a huge 11 goals clear - a deficit that was to prove too much for Bath to make up.The visitors rallied throughout the remaining three quarters, and were just edged out by a point in quarters two and three before a stirring fightback in the final quarter set nerves jangling at the Thunderdome.Anna Stembridges team were busy from the outset and as they ebbed away at the lead, their confidence grew.Having pulled the deficit back to seven points with three minutes remaining Baths efforts to set up a grandstand finish were hindered by some understandably desperate attempts to win the ball back or find the goal.In the end Thunder closed out the win and remain on course for their third Superleague title in Ryans first season as head coach. We look back to 2014s Superleague final between Manchester Thunder and Surrey Storm as Helen Housby won the game for her side in the final second You can follow all the build-up to the Grand Final on www.skysports.com/netball this week and watch the game on Sky Sports 1 next Saturday from 6pm.By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices. Also See: Semi-finals - as it happened Vote for your Player of the Season Table Live on Sky Darrell Henderson Rams Jersey . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. Jared Goff Womens Jersey . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. http://www.ramsrookiestore.com/Rams-Joe-Namath-Jersey/ . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Eric Dickerson Rams Jersey . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. Kurt Warner Rams Jersey . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Bob Costas and other top members of NBCs Olympics coverage team veered between optimism and caution in predicting Rio de Janeiros ability to pull off a successful Summer Games and said NBC will cover the good and bad.Other Olympics have taken place without significant difficulties and he hopes it will be the same for Rio, Costas said Tuesday. But he then ticked off the daunting list of challenges faced by the Brazilian city.It would be naive to think it isnt grappling with security worries, pollution and political turmoil along with a deep recession thats occurred since Rio won the Games, Costas said.He spoke to TV critics from Rio by satellite, along with executive producer Jim Bell and correspondent Mary Carillo. The opening ceremony airs Friday on NBC, which is carrying the games on the air and online.Whether any city can carry off the immense event is the question heading into virtually every Olympics, Bell said. Then the athletes arrive, the Olympic torch is lit and that is the story the network tells, he said.But if a host city falls short, he said, then NBC should focus on that.Costas said that any security issues or ill effects from contaminated water will be immediately apparent and have to be addressed. So far, the best advice given athletes competing in open-water sailing or swimming events is to close their mouths and keep their heads above water, he added.I guess some new techniques will be required, Costas said, sarcastically, adding, Im not trying to be facetious here, but its going to be impossible, in some cases, not to address some of the issues that have come up before the Olympics, because they will directly (effect) the competition.Many open-water competition test events have been held and resulted in zero problems so far, Belll said.ddddddddddddWhen Carillo chimed in that she will be helping to cover those contests, Costas asked her if she planned to take a dip yourself.Absolutely not, she replied. She added, however, that shes been told that open-water swimmers in the 2012 London Olympics faced dirtier conditions from goose droppings in Hyde Parks Serpentine lake.According to a 16-month-long study commissioned by The Associated Press, the waterways of Rio de Janeiro remain as filthy as ever just days before the Games begin and are contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria.If illness or other crises arise, does NBC bear some responsibility for what happens because of the large license fee it pays to the International Olympics Committee, the NBC team was asked.I dont think so, Bell replied.Costas expanded on that answer, saying that the Rio Games would happen without NBCs involvement. The argument could be made that the IOC should have considered moving or postponing it, given the problems that began emerging months ago, he said.But once the games were being held, the network that owned the rights to televise those games was going to televise them, Costas said, adding that the question about network responsibility becomes how thoroughly and credibly do we cover it.His expectation is that NBC Sports and NBC News will not shy away from that, Costas said.Asked if NBC could have used its financial-stake clout to influence the IOC, Bell said he didnt think so.You could make the case Zika is a bigger story in Florida than in Rio, where it is winter, and cooler and drier, he said. Is Disneyland responsible for bringing people to Florida? ' ' '