Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 24 April 12:30 pm

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

# We start with soccer: Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, says 16 superfans will win an all-expenses-paid trip to watch Bafana Bafana at the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico. One lucky fan from every Premier Soccer League team will be selected by a panel of respected figures in South African sport and entertainment, including Robert Marawa and Andile Ncube. McKenzie says the department has secured sponsorship from two big companies:

# Rugby: The Sharks’ Springbok back player, Ethan Hooker, is undergoing surgery to determine the extent of the shoulder injury he sustained during a controversial incident in last weekend’s United Rugby Championship match against Ospreys. Luke Morgan fell on him after he scored a try, dislocating his shoulder. Hooker is expected to be out of action for an extended period. The URC’s citing commission meanwhile decided Morgan’s conduct didn’t meet the threshold for a red card after the Sharks’ requested a formal review.

Meanwhile, the heat is on in the URC, with only three pool rounds remaining. The top-two teams on the log, Glasgow Warriors and the Stormers, will do battle in Cape Town tomorrow, while the Sharks will face Edinburgh in the Scottish capital tonight. The Lions host Irish team Connacht in Johannesburg, and the Bulls play Scarlets in Wales. The Lions are currently fourth on the log, the Bulls eighth and the Sharks eleventh. The top-eight teams qualify for the quarterfinals.

# Motorsport: Formula One says practice one at the Miami Grand Prix next weekend will be extended to 90-minutes. This is due to the recently announced regulatory and technical adjustments and the five-week gap since the last race, while there is also a sprint race, which reduces the amount of practice time available over the course of the weekend. Some of the changes include energy harvesting and deployment limits for qualifying, power deployment limits in corners to improve safety, and changes to the starting procedure. 

# And tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner will play his first match of the Madrid Open in the Spanish capital today. The Italian will face Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in the round of 64 after a bye in the first round. Bonzi eliminated compatriot Titouan Droguet. Sinner’s best performance in three tournaments in Madrid came in 2024, when he reached the quarterfinals. But he is the absolute favourite this year in the absence of local hero and number two, Carlos Alcaraz, who is injured.

Stay tuned for more news………….