Sports News 12:30
BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 21 April 12:30 pm
Good day, let’s look at the latest sports news and scores:
# We begin with news from the Laureus Awards: Tennis stars Carlos Alcaraz from Spain and Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus were crowned Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, respectively, at the Laureus Awards in Madrid. Alcaraz won eight ATP Tour titles, including two Grand Slam tournaments last year. Sabalenka won a second US Open crown and four WTA titles. Golfer Rory McIlroy claimed the World Comeback of the Year Award, with Formula 1’s Lando Norris named World Breakthrough of the Year. Barcelona and Spain’s soccer player, Lamine Yamal, was named Young Sportsperson of the Year, and Paris St-Germain won World Team of the Year.
Alcaraz meanwhile says he would rather miss defending his French Open title than rush treatment on his wrist injury. The seven-time Grand Slam champion picked up the injury during his first match in the Barcelona Open earlier this month before withdrawing from the tournament. Alcaraz says he is waiting on the results of medical tests before determining whether he will be able to play at Roland Garros, where he is the two-time defending champion. He says he remains hopeful and patient.
# Rugby: The Bulls believe they can still secure a home quarterfinal in the United Rugby Championship. Friday’s bonus-point victory of 47-7 over Dragons in Newport moved them to eighth on the log with three group matches remaining before the play-offs. The first four teams will host the quarterfinals. The Bulls have an away match against Scarlets before completing the group round at home against Italian sides Benetton and Zebre. If higher-placed teams should falter, a quarterfinal in Pretoria isn’t too far-fetched.
More rugby news: The Junior Springboks have made an injury-forced change to their squad for the Under-20 Rugby Championship, which starts next Monday in Gqeberha in theEastern Cape. Experienced hooker Siphosethu Mnebelele sustained an ankle injury in Stellenbosch last week and will be replaced by Mahle Sithole. Head coach Kevin Foote says Mnebelele’s injury is unfortunate, but this gives Sithole a great chance to showcase his abilities. South Africa will open their campaign against Argentina, followed by Australia on 3 May and New Zealand on 9 May.
# And motorsport: Formula One governing body, the F-I-A, says several tweaks to the regulations have been agreed to ahead of the Miami Grand Prix next month. This is to appease driver concerns over their safety and certain elements of competition. Some of the changes include energy harvesting and deployment limits for qualifying, power deployment limits in corners to improve safety, and changes to the start procedure. F-I-A president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says the changes are to ensure that both safety and competitive fairness are maintained.
Stay tuned for more news………….