Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 26 February 12:30 pm

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

# We start off with golf: The Stellenbosch Golf Club in the Western Cape will be packed to the brim until Sunday after all tickets for the South African Open were sold out. The event, which started this morning, is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the DP World Tour and offers exemptions into this year’s Masters and British Open. Five-time champion Ernie Els is joined by South African compatriots such as Charl Schwartzel, defending champion Dylan Naidoo, and former champions Dean Burmester, Daniel van Tonder, and Branden Grace.

# Cricket South Africa’s director of national teams and high performance, Enoch Nkwe, says Proteas coach Shukri Conrad gets the results because the players know what he wants. Conrad took control of all three formats last year. Nkwe says he succeeded in shaping the T20 team into a ruthless unit able to slay hosts India in the T20 World Cup before over 90-thousand cheering home supporters in Ahmedabad. South Africa plays the West Indies in the same stadium in the Super Eights today.

Meanwhile, England’s captain, Harry Brook, isn’t sure whether he will stay in the number three batting slot despite rescuing his team in Tuesday’s Super Eight match against Pakistan. He came on in the first over after Phil Salt was dismissed and scored a century to lead England to the semifinals. Brook usually bats at number five. He says it was head coach Brendon McCullum’s idea to send him up the order, and he will decide where he bats the rest of the tournament.

# Rugby: Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote has named a strong 23-man squad for the second and final international against Georgia in Tbilisi tomorrow. South Africa won Sunday’s first encounter 35-0. Stalwarts Oliver Reid and Siphosethu Mnebelele have been recalled to the starting front row, while Zekhethelo Siyaya is included at fullback in the place of Dylan Miller, who is on the bench. Foote says having the experience of Reid and Mnebelele provides the team with the extra layer of composure and technical grit.

# And tennis: South African-born administrator Craig Tiley is on his way to America after resigning as CEO of Tennis Australia. He headed the Australian Open for the past 20 years. Tiley is set to become the new CEO of the US Tennis Association, but will stay in Australia for some time to ease the switch to new leadership. Tennis Australia’s director, Chris Harrop, says the sport has gone from strength to strength under Tiley’s leadership. They had started the search for a new CEO.

Stay tuned for more news………….