NEWSFLASH SPORTS NEWS 7 January 12:30 pm

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

# We tee off with golf: South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen is two shots behind leader Cameron Smith from Australia after the first round of the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua in Hawaii. Another South African, Garrick Higgo, is three shots behind the leader. Smith rolled in two long eagle putts on the way to an eight-under-par 65 and a one-shot lead over world number one Jon Rahm. Spain’s Rahm had seven birdies without a bogey in his 66 and was joined at seven-under by FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay and fellow American Daniel Berger.

# Tennis: Novak Djokovic’s fans rallied in the rain earlier today to protest the tennis superstar’s shock detention in Australia. AFP reports about 50 protesters, a mix of tennis fans, anti-vaccine demonstrators, and immigrant rights activists, congregated at a detention facility in Melbourne. The former Park Hotel, now officially known as an alternative place of detention, holds about 32 refugees and asylum seekers trapped in Australia’s hardline immigration system. It is believed the world’s top tennis player is among them, although border authorities have refused to confirm where Djokovic is detained.

# Cricket: England’s batting woes continued in the fourth Ashes Test where it let off in the previous three encounters. Australia yesterday declared its first innings on 416 for eight after Usman Khawaja scored 137. The tourists resumed on 13 without loss on the third morning and Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, and captain Joe Root were all back in the pavilion before the team could reach 40. Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow steadied the ship with a partnership of 128, but at stumps, the score was 258 for seven.

Meanwhile, Proteas wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock has become a dad. The player and his wife Sasha announced the birth of their first-born girl on Instagram with the words “How’s it, my name is Kiara”. De Kock recently shocked the cricketing world when he announced his retirement from Tests. He explained he wants to spend more time with his expanding family. He played in the first Test against India and was replaced behind the wickets by Kyle Verreyne for the second encounter, which South Africa won by seven wickets yesterday.

# And finally, motorsport: Their excellent time in Stage 5 of the Dakar Rally saw Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel maintain their position at the top of the overall standings. South African Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dennis Murphy posted the seventh-fastest time of the day. Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings reached the finishing line in the first place, thus depriving Sébastien Loeb of victory, beating him by one-minute-58 seconds. Lategan says he had a spot of bother a few times:

Play sound: ENG HenkLateganonDakarProblems

That’s your Sports News on ………………….stay tuned for more.