Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 20 April 12:30 pm

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

# We begin with rugby: Blitzboks coach Philip Snyman praised his players’ mentality after they clinched the Hong Kong Sevens title for the first time in the tournament’s 50-year history. The Boks were on the brink of elimination in the quarterfinals after an unimpressive group stage, but scored two tries in the final minute against Kenya to reach the penultimate round. This was followed by impressive victories over the All Blacks and Argentina to be crowned champions. Snyman says there is a massive feeling of pride and gratitude in the group.

Meanwhile, the Springbok Women’s Sevens coach, Cecil Afrika, says there are good lessons to be learned from their performances in Hong Kong, the first of three World Championship events. South Africa’s women suffered defeats to Australia and Canada, followed by a famous win over Great Britain in their final pool match. They then lost to Great Britain in the ninth-place semifinal before going down against Argentina to finish 12th. Afrika says they have a lot of work to do ahead of the tournaments in Spain and France in May and June, respectively.

# Cricket: The Proteas Women defeated India by eight wickets in the second T20 in Durban to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Tumi Sekhukhune and Chloé Tryon claimed three wickets each as the visitors were restricted to 147 all out. In reply, captain Laura Wolvaardt and Suné Luus combined for an opening stand of 106, as South Africa reached the target with 17 balls to spare. The series now moves to the Wanderers for the third and fourth matches on Wednesday and Saturday, before concluding in Benoni next Monday.

# Golf: France’s Agathe Laisne won a dramatic five-hole playoff against Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley to win the Joburg Ladies Open at the Randpark Golf Club. After the duo were locked at 19-under par with South Africa’s Casandra Alexander following 72 holes, it was back to the 18th for sudden-death action. Alexander, the home favourite, was knocked out on the first playoff hole. Laisne won with a birdie on the final playoff hole to claim her second Ladies European Tour title this season.

# And tennis: World number one, Italian Jannik Sinner, confirmed his participation in this week’s Madrid Open in Spain, where he will try to make history as the first player to win five straight Masters One-thousand titles. This follows his victories in Paris last year and Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo this year. Sinner is the absolute favourite in the absence of local hero Carlos Alcaraz and three-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia. The tournament is used as preparation for the French Open, starting in Paris on 24 May.

Stay tuned for more news………….