RUGBY
Pieter Louw has been recalled by the Stormers to help with their injury problem in the back row. Louw stopped playing rugby when his WP contract was not renewed last year, but he’s back in action with the Stormers and can play at either six, seven or eight.
Sias Ebersohn has quit the Cheetahs to join the Western Force on a two-year contract. The player will be leaving the Cheetahs to link up with the Australian Super Rugby side after this year’s Currie cup.
CJ van der Linde’s hearing has been adjourned, pending further evidence and closing submissions from the player’s counsel. It’s not yet certain when a further hearing will be held.
Francois Steyn will not be allowed to play for the Sharks in the Super Rugby playoffs, should the franchise progress that far. Steyn signed a deal with the Sharks on Monday and will join his team on 1 July, but his contribution will be two matches at best as players signed after 1 April are not allowed to be a part of the play-offs.
Hennie Daniller is likely to miss the remainder of the Super Rugby season after it was confirmed on Tuesday that he broke his thumb during the Cheetah’s win over the Waratahs on Saturday.
Jaco Taute has been ruled out of action for at least a month, which means he could miss out on his Springbok berth against England. The backline player sustained a shoulder injury against the Force on Saturday.
More bad news for the Stormers is that Steven Kitshoff will not be available for their match against the Bulls on Saturday. Kitshoff has linked up with the SA under-20 squad who will be taking part in the IRB Junior World Championships in Cape Town next week.
CRICKET
Stephen Fleming has ruled out the possibility of taking up a position of head coach with his native New Zealand. Fleming is currently in charge of the Chennai Super Kings and says he prefers the less hectic schedule on offer by the IPL.
Sialkot Stallions have been included in this year’s Champions League T20. This is the first team from Pakistan to be included in the tournament. They were part of the initial line up to take part in the 2008 tournament, but the competition was cancelled due to terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
SOCCER
Czech Republic have included an injured Tomas Rosicky in their 23-man Euro 2012 squad. Coach Michal Bilek is convinced Rosicky will recover from his calf injury, but Vladimir Darida from Czech 2011 champions Viktoria Plzen has been called up as back up.
A friendly between Italy and Luxembourg has been cancelled after another earthquake hit the northern region of Parma on Tuesday. At least 10 people died in the quake, just one week after a similar quake struck the region.
BOXING
Paul Williams has been left paralysed following a motorcycle crash on Sunday. His manager said it’s unlikely the boxer will continue his career as he has no movement from the waist down. Williams was scheduled to fight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on 15 September in Las Vegas, but the event has been cancelled.
ATHLETICS
South African trio Ofentse Mogawane, Hannes Dreyer and Mapaseka Makhanya all dominated their races at the Pfingstsportfest athletics meeting in Rehlingen, Germany, on Monday. Dreyer won the men’s 100m final in 10.34sec while Mogawane, secured victory in the men’s 400m race in 45.80sec. Makhanya thumped German duo Elina Sujew and Annett Horna to win the women’s 1,500m event in four minutes, 12.01 seconds.
TENNIS
Rafael Nadal cruised into the second round of the French Open by beating Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. David Ferrer also made it into the second round by beating Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. In the women’s action, Maria Sharapova cruised to victory over Alexandra Cadantu, beating her 6-0, 6-0 in a match, which lasted just 48 minutes. Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also made it into the second round, crushing Ashleigh Barty 6-1, 6-2.
Results from the French Open:
First round
Men
David Ferrer (ESP x6) bt Lukas Lacko (SVK) 6-3, 6-4, 6-1
Benot Paire (FRA) bt Albert Ramos (ESP) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3
Robin Haase (NED) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO) 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) bt Alexander Dolgopolov (UKR x16) 6-7 (4/7),?6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-3
Tommy Haas (GER) bt Filippo Volandri (ITA) 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) bt Donald Young (USA) 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 6-1
Richard Gasquet (FRA x17) bt Jurgen Zopp (EST) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) bt Igor Andreev (RUS) 3-6, 6-2, 2-1 – retired
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB x8) bt Sam Querrey (USA) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3
Jrmy Chardy (FRA) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 3-6, 11-9
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) bt Go Soeda (JPN) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
Julien Benneteau (FRA x29) bt Mischa Zverev (GER) 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-4
Nicolas Almagro (ESP x12) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
Florian Mayer (GER x32) bt Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3
Eduardo Schwank (ARG) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-4, 6-0, 6-3
Denis Istomin (UZB) bt Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 6-2, 6-1, 6-2
Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA) 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
Women
Francesca Schiavone (ITA x14) bt Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) 6-3, 6-1
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) bt Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 3-6, 6-0, 6-3
Urszula Radwanska (POL) bt Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 6-4, 6-3
Petra Kvitova (CZE x4) bt Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 6-1, 6-2
Arantxa Rus (NED) bt Jamie Hampton (USA) 6-4, 4-3 – retired
Heather Watson (GBR) bt Elena Vesnina (RUS) 6-2, 6-4
Julia Goerges (GER x25) bt Lucie Hradeck (CZE) 7-6 (7/1), 6-4
Kaia Kanepi (EST x23) bt Alexandra Panova (RUS) 6-3, 6-3
Klara Zakopalova (CZE) bt Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) 6-2, 6-1
Melinda Czink (HUN) bt Anne Keothavong (GBR) 6-1, 6-2
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x22) bt Greta Arn (HUN) 6-4, 6-4
Lourdes Domnguez (ESP) bt Marina Erakovic (NZL) 7-5, 7-5
Ayumi Morita (JPN) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Maria Sharapova (RUS x2) bt Alexandra Cadantu (ROM) 6-0, 6-0
GOLF
South African George Coetzee and Sweden’s Alex Noren have qualified for the US Open while Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal failed to do so. Other golfers who qualified are France’s Gregory Bourdy and Raphael Jacquelin, England’s Lee Slattery and Matthew Baldwin, Italy’s Matteo Manassero, Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen, Finland’s Mikko Illonen and Ireland’s Peter Lawrie.
Darren Clarke pulled out of next month’s US Open due to a groin injury. The British Open champion said that he was “extremely disappointed” to be missing out, but he’s sure that he will be ready for the British Open.
DM
Photo: South African golfer George Coetzee has qualified for the US Open taking place fom 27 August to 9 September this year. (Reuters)
