Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 12 March 12:30 pm

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

# We start off with rugby: Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone says they will recruit far less players in the coming off-season because they are happy with the team’s progresson under director of rugby Jake White. The Bulls are currently second on the United Rugby Championship log and are also in the play-off rounds of the Champions Cup. The union invested heavily in new players last year, gaining experienced players such as Springbok Willie le Roux and hooker Akker van der Merwe. Rathbone says they now have a settled core.

# Tennis: Lucky loser, Luca Nardi, has knocked out world number one Novak Djokovic in the third round of Indian Wells. The 20-year-old Italian, ranked number 123 in the world, beat the Serbian 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to record the biggest win of his career. He is the lowest-ranked player to defeat Djokovic at ATP Masters one-thousand or Grand Slam level. Nardi says he has been inspired by the recent success of his compatriot, Jannik Sinner:

Young American Ben Shelton will tomorrow try and stop Sinner’s 17-match winning streak when they meet in the round of 16 at Indian Wells. Sinner looks unstoppable at the moment, following up his Australian Open title with victory in the Rotterdam Open in the Netherlands. Sinner is seeded third and Shelton 16th. Thirty-second-seeded Czech player Jiri Lehecka plays Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas next after sending fifth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev packing in the previous round.

# Soccer: The English Premier League has agreed with clubs to introduce a new competition financial system, replacing the controversial profitability and sustainability rules. The new system will be aligned with UEFA’s Financial Sustainability Regulations, which from 2025 to ’26 will limit spending on transfer fees and player wages to 70-percent of the club’s revenue. The new rules will not affect the ongoing cases regarding Everton, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester City, who will continue to be judged on existing financial models.

# And finally: The Commonwealth Games Federation says it is in advanced, confidential discussions with potential hosts for the 2026 Games. The Australian state of Victoria ditched its plans to host in July last year due to soaring costs. The Olympic Council of Malaysia has revealed it has received a formal invitation to host the 2026 Games. The federation says it welcomes innovative proposals and is in positive discussions with potential hosts. The Games have only ever been cancelled twice, in 1942 and ’46, because of World War Two.

Stay tuned for more news………….