Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 15 October 12:30 pm

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

# We start with soccer: FIFA president Gianni Infantino has congratulated South Africa for qualifying for next year’s World Cup. Bafana Bafana defeated Rwanda 3-0, claiming the top spot in Group C ahead of Nigeria and Benin. South Africa is the ninth African team to qualify for the expanded 48-team tournament, joining Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, and Senegal. Infantino says for Bafana Bafana to secure their first qualification for the global showpiece since 2002 is a great achievement:

Meanwhile, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says he plans to retire after the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The 73-year-old Belgian says ending his coaching career at the tournament feels like the perfect conclusion to his decades-long journey in the sport:

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says the first match of their end-of-year tour against Eddie Jones’ Japan at Wembley in London on November first will be tough. South Africa will also face France in Paris, Italy in Turin, Ireland in Dublin and Wales in Cardiff next month after winning back-to-back Rugby Championship titles earlier this month. Erasmus says, given that they don’t play Japan often, he is expecting a spicy and enjoyable game at an iconic stadium:

# Cricket: The popular Catch Two-million-rand returns in the fourth season of the SA20, starting on the 26th of December. This entails spectators who catch a ball with one hand in the stands, share prize money of two-million-rand after the tournament, while participants who play sponsor Betway’s Catch Game will see their winnings tripled. Commissioner Graeme Smith says the competition has become an integral part of the stadium experience and is a fan-favourite across the 34 matches. The final takes place on the 25th of January.

# And tennis: The lucrative Six Kings Slam with six of the world’s best players gets underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, today with the first quarterfinal between Germany’s Alexander Zverev and American Taylor Fritz. The other quarterfinal will be between Italian Jannik Sinner and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. The two winners will take on world number one, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, respectively. All the participants in the exhibition tournament will earn 26.2-million-rand, plus another 78.5-million-rand for the winner.

Stay tuned for more news………….