Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 30 October 12:30 pm

Good day, let’s look at the latest sports news and scores:

# We start off with the Olympics: The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee has selected Durban as the preferred host city for its bid to stage the 2036 or 2040 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Government has backed the bid. Johannesburg and Cape Town were also considered as candidate cities. Seven countries have expressed interest in hosting the 2036 Games. Acting SASCOC president Lwandile Simelane says discussions around the budget will take place as the bid progresses:

# Rugby: Leinster prop Tadhg Furlong escaped a sanction after allegedly groping an opponent in last weekend’s United Rugby Championship match against Munster. He was cited and expected to receive a hefty ban, but a disciplinary hearing cleared him, citing there was no sufficient evidence of foul play. Furlong is thus available to play for Ireland in next month’s Nations Championship Test against the Springboks in Dublin. Bok and Bulls prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels received a nine-week ban after a similar incident last year.

# Motorsport: Italian Kimi Antonelli, who is on the brink of clinching his first Formula One drivers’ championship title, is recovering from a viral illness. The Mercedes driver missed media day at the Mexico City Grand Prix yesterday as a precaution to give him the chance to rest ahead of the weekend. A top-nine finish in Sunday’s race will ensure Antonelli becomes the sport’s youngest world champion at 20 years old, breaking Sebastian Vettel’s record by three years. The first practice is tonight.

# Tennis: Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakino will end the season in the world number one ranking after reaching the quarterfinal of the Japanese Open in Tokyo. This will conclude a stellar season for the 27-year-old in which she won two more Grand Slam tournaments – the Australian Open and the US Open – and overtook Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on top of the rankings. This mean Rybakina will be the top seed in the WTA Finals, starting in Indian Wells, California, next Sunday.

And more tennis, Alexander Zverev is guaranteed to replace Jannik Sinner as the men’s world number one for the first time in his career on Monday, after reaching the Vienna Open quarterfinals. The 29-year-old German defeated Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor to become the 30th man to reach the ATP world number one ranking. He has had a dominant year, claiming his first two Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros and the US Open. Zverev will face British number one Arthur Fery in the quarterfinals in a repeat of their Wimbledon semifinal.

Stay tuned for more news………….