Sports News 12:30
BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 8 August 12:30 pm
Good day, let’s look at the latest sports news and scores:
# We start with news about the Sports Awards: Olympic swimming champion Tatjana Smith, sprinter Akani Simbine and sprint and long jump star Mpumelelo Mhlongo are competing to be named South Africa’s sport star of the year for 2024. Athletes have been nominated in 16 categories for the South African Sport Awards, being announced on the 24th. The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture also named Smith in the sportswoman of the year category, together with Proteas Women cricket captain Laura Wolvaardt. Springbok rugby star Pieter-Steph du Toit was nominated for sportsman of the year.
# Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus plans to continue building squad depth and nurturing the young talent for the future. The Boks wrapped up their two-week conditioning camp in Johannesburg which included three Junior Springbok World Rugby Under-20 Championship winners. Erasmus says Bathobele Hlekani, Cheswill Jooste, and Haashim Pead were exposed to what is required to perform at the highest level of the sport. The Boks will reassemble on Sunday, where their focus will turn to the Rugby Championship.
# Cricket: Proteas pace bowler Kagiso Rabada believes they should now move on from the euphoria of winning the World Test Championship final against Australia and focus on facing the country again in white-ball series. The first of three T20s will be played in Darwin on Sunday, and the series will be followed by three one-day matches. Rabada is relishing the continuation of the rivalry between the two countries. He says they are now moving toward the T20 World Cup and will have a different approach.
# Mixed martial arts: Pretoria’s Elbert “Pikachu” Steyn is ready to make history tomorrow when Professional Fighters League Africa lands in Johannesburg. The 3-0 unbeaten featherweight will face Morocco’s Abderrahman Errachidy at Carnival City’s Big Top Arena. The event marks Professional Fighters League Africa’s second stop, following a Cape Town sell-out. Steyn, the only South African on the card, hopes to secure a semifinal spot in front of a roaring home crowd.
# And finally, tennis: Twenty-two-year-old American Ben Shelton and 18-year-old Canadian wild card Victoria Mboko are the Canadian Open champions. Shelton came from a set down to defeat Russia’s Karen Khachanov in Toronto to win his first ATP Masters One-thousand title. In the women’s draw in Montreal, Mboko defeated four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan to claim her first WTA Tour title. Following this victory, Mboko’s world ranking will soar with 51 spots to 34th place.
Stay tuned for more news………….