Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 10 April 12:30 pm

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

# We start with golf: Defending Masters champion American Scottie Scheffler will play alongside compatriot Justin Thomas and Spain’s Jose Luis Ballester, as the first major of the year tees off at Augusta National in Georgia today. Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, who is aiming to become just the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam, is grouped with Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and American Akshay Bhatia. Three South Africans are in the 95-man field: former champion Charl Schwartzel, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Thriston Lawrence.

Meanwhile, the 32nd South African Women’s Open, the final tournament on this year’s Sunshine Ladies Tour, is teeing off at the Erinvale Country and Golf Estate in Somerset West, Cape Town, today. The tournament has drawn a strong field including South Africans Casandra Alexander, Kaiyuree Moodley, and Danielle du Toit. Approximately 7.1-million-rand in prize money is on offer. Moodley, who has taken the Sunshine Ladies Tour by storm this year, says she has had a good season:

# Soccer: Orlando Pirates is through to the CAF Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2013, after playing to a goalless draw against Algerian club MC Alger in the second leg at the Orlando Stadium. The Buccaneers qualified for the last four on a 1-0 aggregate having beaten MC Alger away in the first leg last Friday. The semifinals will see Pirates face Pyramids FC while Mamelodi Sundowns meet Al Ahly. Pirates coach, José Riveiro, says his players gave everything:

# Tennis: Two-time champion Novak Djokovic has been knocked out in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters. Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo handed the Serb an unexpected straight sets defeat on the clay court. Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud defeated Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the third round, while Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev overcame Frenchman Gael Monfils. Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov recovered from a set down to beat wild card Valentin Vacherot of France.

And finally, former American tennis great Billie Jean King says she doesn’t want to be the last, after becoming the first to be given a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame’s new sports entertainment category. The 81-year-old was honoured on the famous sidewalk in Los Angeles, previously reserved for stars of cinema, television, radio, theatre and music. King won 39 singles and doubles Grand Slam titles and formed the Women’s Tennis Association for professional players. She is also an advocate for gender equality and social justice.

Stay tuned for more news………….