Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 18 June 12:30 pm

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

# We start off with Mixed martial arts: Two-time middleweight title holder Israel Adesanya has confirmed after weeks of speculation he will fight South African Dricus du Plessis in Perth on 17 August.  Although no official announcement has been made by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Du Plessis already shared the poster on his Instagram Stories. In January, the 30-year-old Du Plessis defeated American Sean Strickland and cemented his place in UFC history by becoming the first South African to win a UFC title.  Du Plessis has won his last nine professional outings, of which seven under the UFC banner.

# Tennis:  French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz has set his sights on more grass-court successes after his first title on the clay at Roland Garros. The 21-year-old became the youngest man to win major titles on all three surfaces – grass, hard courts, and clay – with a five-set victory over Alexander Zverev in Paris last Sunday. He is the defending champion at Wimbledon and is looking to repeat last year’s double of winning at both Queen’s Club and the grass-court Grand Slam. Alcaraz begins his Queen’s Club campaign today against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.

# Cricket: The world players’ board, Fica, has changed its name to World Cricketers’ Association. The WCA now represents the majority of the world’s best cricketers across 14 countries. At a meeting in New York, the association awarded the first Tim May Medals for outstanding service to the players’ association to Tim May and Richard Bevan. Both were central to ensuring that players collectively have a say on matters that impact them at global level.

# Soccer: Johannesburg will host the draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers early next month. Continental governing body CAF says it will be conducted at SuperSport’s studios in Randburg on the fourth of July. The qualifiers start in September to determine the 24 countries taking place in the tournament in Morocco in July and August next year. Bafana Bafana won the bronze medal in the previous tournament in their best performance in 24 years. It was won by hosts Ivory Coast.

# And finally, Rugby: The United Rugby Championship final between the Bulls and Glasgow Warriors at Loftus on Saturday at 6 pm, will be preceded by a live screening of the Springboks’ match against Wales at Twickenham.  The URC final will be contested by two teams who were considered the underdogs in their respective semi-finals. The Bulls got the better of Leinster, while the Warriors upset defending champions Munster. It will be the Bulls’ second URC final in three seasons and a first at home, and the first since 2019 for the men from Scotland.

Stay tuned for more news………….