Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 6 June 12:30 pm

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

# First up, rugby: Nizaam Carr has extended his contract with the Bulls to 2027. The former Springbok loose forward played 54 matches for the union during two stints since 2020. The 33-year-old says the Bulls have become his family. Cape Town-born Carr says one of the highlights of his time at Loftus was beating the Stormers in front of a capacity crowd in a United Rugby Championship match recently. He hopes to help bring home silverware over the next three years.

# Cricket: India’s batting coach, Vikram Rathour, has refused to criticise the Nassau County Cricket Stadium pitch in New York, saying it is the batters’ responsibility to adapt to difficult conditions. India defeated Ireland by eight wickets in their T20 World Cup opener yesterday. The pitch has been criticised for having excessive seam movement and bounce. Rathour says they cannot change the pitch and therefore their focus is on winning games:

# Tennis: Defending champion Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal from the French Open means there won’t be any of the Big Three in Sunday’s men’s final for the first time in 20 years. The Serbian, 14-time champion Rafael Nadal of Spain and Swiss maestro Roger Federer have dominated the tournament since 2004. Djokovic won three times and Federer once. Djokovic injured his knee on Monday, giving Norwegian Casper Ruud a free ride to the semifinals, with Italian Jannik Sinner taking over as world number one next week.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Alexander Zverev says he desperately wants to win his first Grand Slam title. The fourth seed beat Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 to make the French Open semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. He has won his past eleven matches, having lifted his sixth ATP Masters trophy in Rome last month. Zverev says he has been working hard to put himself in this position again:

# And finally, motorsport: Mercedes has revealed it will bring further upgrades to the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. The Silver Arrows’ best result in a Grand Prix so far this season has been fifth, but the team was encouraged by the performance of a new front wing introduced on George Russell’s car in Monaco. Mercedes’s trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, says they are closing the gap on the teams in front, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren:

Stay tuned for more news………….