Sports News 12:30
BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 9 July 12:30 pm
Good day, let’s look at the latest sports news and scores:
# We start with rugby: The Sharks’ Junior Springbok prop, Kai Pratt, chose to have his B sample tested after testing positive for an anabolic steroid. The South African Institute for Drug-free Sport confirmed the positive outcome. Pratt recently withdrew from the South African Under-20 team due to injury. He was tested in April, shortly before the start of the Under-20 Championship in Gqeberha. Sport24 reports a date still has to be set for the rest of the process, while Pratt hasn’t decided if he would contest the allegation.
Meanwhile, Springbok winger Canan Moodie says they are expecting a tough battle against a very dangerous Scotland in Saturday’s Nations Championship second-round clash at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. South Africa defeated England 45-21 in their opener last weekend, while Scotland got the better of Argentina 47-38. Moodie, who will earn his 25th cap for the Boks, says they are anticipating an aerial battle, which they are prepared for:
# Soccer: Bafana Bafana star Mbekezeli Mbokazi’s agent has warned clubs interested in his service will have to hugely enhance offers following his good World Cup showing. Basia Michaels says the 20-year-old defender should be able to command two to five times wat Chicago Fire paid for him last year. The US club is willing to sell him to European clubs after paying about 49-million-rand to acquire him. A Belgium team reportedly shows interest in Mbokazi again after declining to pay Orlando Pirates’ asking price a year ago.
Meanwhile, France’s head coach, Didier Deschamps, is not concerned by the appointment of only Argentinian officials to oversee their quarterfinal match against Morocco in Boston today. Facundo Tello is the on-field referee. The sport’s governing body has been accused of showing bias towards Lionel Messi and Argentina after a controversial 3-2 victory over Egypt in the round of 16. Deschamps says their opponent is Morocco, and not the referee.
# And tennis: South Africa’s four-time Grand Slam champion, Kgothatso Montjane, and her British partner Lucy Shuker are through to the ladies’ wheelchair doubles semifinals at Wimbledon. They defeated France’s Ksenia Chasteau and the Netherlands’ Jiske Griffioen. Montjane won Wimbledon’s wheelchair doubles title with her Japanese partner, Yui Kamiji, in 2024, while Shuker has appeared in five doubles finals. The duo will face the number one seeds, Japan’s Yui Kamiji and China’s Zhenzhen Zhu, for a place in the final.
Stay tuned for more news………….