Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 25 June 12:30 pm

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

# We begin with athletics: South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso won the women’s 800-metres final in a meeting record and personal best time of one-minute-57.16-seconds at the Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic. Botswana’s Oratile Nowe and Ethiopian Nigist Getachew completed the podium. Another South African, Douw Smit, finished second behind India’s multiple Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra in the men’s javelin final, with a throw of 84.12-meters. Tshepo Tshite finished in a disappointing ninth place in the men’s one-thousand-500-meters.

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has praised tighthead prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye’s dedication, which has led to him getting his first national call-up. The 26-year-old is one of four uncapped players included in the Bok squad to face the Barbarians in Cape Town on Saturday. Ntlabakanye’s transformation included intensive sessions at scrum coach Daan Human’s Bloemfontein farm, where conditioning took precedence alongside technical scrum work. Erasmus says Ntlabakanye’s commitment has yielded dramatic physical changes:

Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town is expecting a massive turnout for the historic clash. The match marks the first encounter between the two sides since 2016, and the first on South African soil. Mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says they are anticipating more than 40-thousand spectators, which will affect traffic:

# Cricket: India’s coach, Gautam Gambhir, says there are a few areas they need to improve on before the second Test against England, starting at Edgbaston next Wednesday. The hosts’ opener, Ben Duckett, scored 149 in the second innings to help his team chase down 371 to win the first Test at Headingley by five wickets. India became the first team to lose a Test match with five batters scoring centuries. Gambhir says the manner of the defeat is disappointing:

# And finally, cycling: Two-time former winner Jonas Vingegaard will lead Visma-Lease a Bike at this year’s Tour de France. The 28-year-old Dane won the Tour in 2022 and ’23, and will be joined in the set-up by all-rounder Wout van Aert as they attempt to de-throne Tadej Pogacar. Matteo Jorgenson, Simon Yates, Sepp Kuss, Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts and Edoardo Affini make up the rest of their team. This year’s Tour de France starts in Lille on 5 July and ends in Paris on the 27th.

Stay tuned for more news………….