Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 23 July12:30 pm

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

# We start with rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus selected a strong 37-player squad for the first two Rugby Championship Tests against Australia, featuring 24 World Cup-winners and five players who made their Test debuts recently. They are Ethan Hooker, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Boan Venter, Marnus van der Merwe and Cobus Wiese. The standby players are Lukhanyo Am, Faf de Klerk, Makazole Mapimpi, Salmaan Moerat, Evan Roos, Neethling Fouché and Vincent Tshituka. The Springboks face the Wallabies in Johannesburg on 16 August, and a week later in Cape Town.

Meanwhile, Western Province head coach Labeeb Levy won’t use players identified as United Rugby Championship candidates for the Stormers in this year’s Currie Cup competition. Recently retired Stormers prop Brok Harris, who is Province’s forward coach, says the URC players are going into pre-season training while the Currie Cup team will put the emphasis on youth and perhaps tap into the extensive amateur resource base. Province takes on old foes, the Bulls, in Cape Town in the first round on Saturday. The final is on 20 September.

# Over to soccer now: Defending champions Banyana Banyana suffered a 2-1 defeat to Nigeria in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semifinals in Morocco. Rasheedat Ajibade gave the Super Falcons the lead from the penalty spot in the first-half. South Africa responded with a spot-kick of their own in the second-half via Linda Motlhalo. Michelle Alozie scored the winner in extra time. Nigeria will meet Morocco in the final. Banyana Banyana coach, Desiree Ellis, says she is still proud of her team:

# Tennis: Britain’s Cameron Norrie knocked out second seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy to reach the Washington Open round of 16. The 29-year-old will play American 14th seed Brandon Nakashima. Chinese qualifier Wu Yibing beat France’s Gael Monfils for his first tour-level triumph since last year. American Ben Shelton saw off compatriot Mackenzie McDonald. In the women’s draw, 45-year-old American Venus Williams stormed past compatriot Peyton Stearns in her first singles match in 16-months.

# And finally, Olympic Games: Qatar is interested in hosting the Summer and Paralympic Games of 2036. The country’s Olympic Committee is currently discussing the election process with the International Olympic Committee, saying it wants to showcase the potential of Arab youth on the global stage after hosting the 2022 Soccer World Cup. Sky Sports reports the Gulf nation could face a challenge from neighbouring country Saudi Arabia, which is staging the soccer tournament in 2034, while India may also be interested.

Stay tuned for more news………….