Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 29 May 12:30 pm

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

# We start off with tennis: Defending champion Coco Gauff and world number one Aryna Sabalenka are through to the French Open third round. American Gauff eased past Egypt’s Mayar Sherif, 6-3, 6-2, while Sabalenka of Belarus beat France’s Elsa Jacquemot, 7-5, 6-2. Sixth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova also advanced to the third round after Austrian Julia Grabher retired after losing the first set 6-0. In the men’s draw, 17-year-old Frenchman Moise Kouame defeated Paraguayan Adolfo Daniel Vallejo in five sets, becoming the fifth-youngest man to reach the third round ‌of a Grand Slam.

In more tennis news, the twenty-three-time Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams, is reportedly planning to make a comeback on the grass courts of Queen’s Club in London next month. The 44-year-old American has requested a wild card to play doubles with Canadian Victoria Mboko, after completing six months in the anti-doping testing pool. Williams has not competed since the 2022 US Open, branding her departure as evolving away from the sport rather than a retirement. Mboko refused to confirm the reports:

# Rugby: Springbok Sevens coach, Philip Snyman, says mental focus will be key in the second of three Sevens World Championship events in Valladolid, Spain, this weekend. South Africa won the first championship tournament in Hong Kong. The Blitzboks have two Pool A encounters today, against Great Britain and Kenya, and on Saturday, they face Australia. Snyman says they will need their best performance of the season to be successful this weekend:

Staying with rugby news, the Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote has named a reshuffled match-day squad for their final Under-20 International Series encounter against Georgia in Stellenbosch tomorrow. Captain Riley Norton is back after missing the opening match against Chile because of his involvement at the Springbok alignment camp. Vusi Moyo will start his third consecutive game at flyhalf, while Luan Giliomee gets another start at fullback. In the loose trio, Oliver Reid, previously used off the bench, gets the nod as one of the two starting props in the reshuffled front row.

# And lastly soccer: Lionel Messi will play in his sixth World Cup after being confirmed in Argentina’s 26-man squad despite injury concerns. The 38-year-old, who led his country to a third World Cup triumph in Qatar four years ago, has been suffering from muscle fatigue in his left hamstring. Other notable players included in the squad are Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez, Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister and Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez. Argentina are in Group J with Algeria, Austria and Jordan.

Stay tuned for more news………….