Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 20 March 12:30 pm

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

# We begin with athletics: Teen sensation Bayanda Walaza broke the South African Under-20 200-meter record at the Athletics SA Grand Prix in Johannesburg last night. The 2024 Olympic silver medallist won the item in a new personal best time of 20.08-seconds, taking 0.02-seconds off the national record of 20.10 set by Clarence Munyai in March 2017. Lucky Moleyane finished second with former World Championships finalist Luxolo Adams in third place. Walaza says he is continuously working on his form:

# Golf: Norway’s Karoline Lund leads the Ladies Open after firing a seven-under-par 64 in the opening round at the Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate in Gauteng. The 26-year-old has a one-shot lead over Nikki Hofstede from the Netherlands and England’s Hayley Davis. South Africans Casandra Alexander and Tandi McCallum are two shots off the lead on five under par. The prize money has been increased by a further 200-thousand-rand to 1.2-million-rand. Lund says her strategy is to continue playing aggressively:

# Cricket: Fans of the sport will be entertained big-time for the following two months when the super popular Indian Premier League features ten teams in 74 matches in 13 cities. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will host Saturday’s opening match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, as well as the final on 25 May. Each team will play seven home and seven away games, followed by the three play-off matches and the final. The competition has prize money of 3.6-billion-rand this year.

# Tennis: Australian Nick Kyrgios recorded his first ATP Tour win since 2022 in the first round of the Miami Open. The 29-year-old, hampered by foot and wrist injuries, beat American Mackenzie McDonald. Thirty-eight-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils defeated Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan to become the second oldest man, after Jimmy Connors, to win at the Miami Open. In the women’s draw, three-time champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Japan’s Naomi Osaka are through to the second round.

# And finally, International Olympic Committee members will elect a new president for the first time since 2013 in Greece today. Seven candidates are vying for the most powerful position in world sport, replacing Thomas Bach of Germany. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe of England is one of the favourites alongside Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior of Spain, and Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry, who is vying to be the first female president of the IOC. Bach will stay in the job until June as part of a handover process to his successor.

Stay tuned for more news………….