JOHANNESBURG: Thousands of South Africans screamed with joy, danced and sang at OR Tambo airport near Johannesburg Tuesday as a first group of Springboks who won the Rugby World Cup returned home.
Forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, voted World Rugby Player of the Year two days ago, and scrum-half Faf de Klerk were among the first players to arrive.
The victorious squad, coaches and officials are scheduled to return between Tuesday and Wednesday as no airline could accommodate the entire group on one flight.
Captain Siya Kolisi and coach Rassie Erasmus are among a group expected to arrive in Johannesburg later Tuesday.
A carnival atmosphere enveloped the normally sedate international arrivals section of the airport as Du Toit, De Klerk and some teammates and coaches received deafening applause.
Black and white, male and female, young, middle aged and old, low-income earners and the wealthy all descended on the airport east of Johannesburg to salute their heroes.
Many wore replica green and gold shirts and waved national flags as they celebrated the rugby triumph which was all the sweeter after poor recent results by the national football and cricket teams.
The Springboks dominated and then crushed pre-match favorites England 32-12 in Japanese city Yokohama on Saturday to lift the World Cup a record-equalling third time.
Winning the four-yearly showcase of rugby so decisively has lifted the spirits of a nation mired in economic and social quagmires.
Although boasting the most developed economy in Africa, South Africa is struggling with stagnant growth, near 30-percent unemployment and widespread poverty and inequality.
Headlines about corruption in state institutions and violence against women and children also appear with alarming frequency in the media.
Rosharon Morgan, a 34-year-old from western Johannesburg, said she closed the family engineering business for the day in order to welcome the Springboks.
“I’m here because the Springboks are the pride of the nation,” she said.
“I was listening to the speeches of (captain) Siya Kolisi and (coach) Rassie Erasmus and they were along the lines of uniting us and giving us hope.
“Right now there is a lot of euphoria in the county, but what we need to do is turn that into tangible changes. The problem is that we are not working toward (racial) unity.
“There are still many issues that need to be addressed such as racial and economic inequalities. We cannot overlook them.”
Moemedi Mashiolane, 45, works in the security industry and took advantage of free train transport to join the celebrations.
“I came here because this is Nelson Mandela’s legacy — this is what he would have wanted,” he said.
“Rugby has united us. Where I come from rugby is a sport played by white people but today it has united us.
“We want white people to know that we want to be part of rugby and they must allow us to play the game.”
Mashiolane said he loved the speech Kolisi made about unity as it uplifted his spirits.
“He knows about our lives as black people and I hope politicians learn from that. They must not think we are stupid — we can see they are trying to divide us.”
What made the Springboks’ success special was it being achieved with a team reflecting both racial groups with nine whites and six blacks in the starting line-up.
The team was captained by forward Kolisi, who last year became the first black Test captain in South African history.
Formed in 1891, the Springboks fielded only whites for 90 years before fly-half Errol Tobias became the first black player to represent his country.
Just one black, winger Chester Williams, featured in the 1995 World Cup-winning and there two wingers, JP Pietersen and Bryan Habana, in the side that conquered the world 12 years later.
Despite government pressure for the Springboks to select teams that better reflected a population that is 90 percent black, many coaches chose predominantly white teams.
Erasmus turned the tide after replacing embattled Allister Coetzee as coach last year, giving a string of black stars opportunities.
In Yokohama, there were six black starters: Kolisi, fellow forward Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira and Bongi Mbonambi, and backs Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi.
Kolbe was a candidate for the World Rugby Player of the Year award won by Du Toit and Mapimpi the second highest try scorer at the World Cup with six.
South Africans scream, sing and dance as Springboks return
South Africans scream, sing and dance as Springboks return
- Forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, voted World Rugby Player of the Year two days ago, and scrum-half Faf de Klerk were among the first players to arrive
- Black and white, male and female, young, middle aged and old, low-income earners and the wealthy all descended on the airport east of Johannesburg to salute their heroes
Ariya Jutanugarn maintains group lead over Nelly Korda at T-Mobile Match Play
- Jutanugarn, of Thailand, won 2 and 1 against Altomare to continue to lead Group 1, though she will face Korda in the final leg of the round robin Friday
- Angel Yin (1-0-1) leads Group 10, and Russia’s Nataliya Guseva (1-0-1) is on top in Group 15
LAS VEGAS: World No. 1 Nelly Korda avoided a second straight collapse, but Ariya Jutanugarn maintained her advantage in Group 1 play Thursday at the T-Mobile Match Play in North Las Vegas, Nevada
Korda built a lead and held on to finish 1 up on Jennifer Kupcho, who fell to 0-2 in the event. That marked an improvement from Wednesday for Korda, when the defending champion settled for halving her match after losing a late lead to Brittany Altomare.
“Golf doesn’t necessarily bring out (head-to-head competitiveness) unless you’re in a playoff or whatnot,” Korda said. “(It) just makes you a little bit more aggressive of a player.”
Jutanugarn, of Thailand, won 2 and 1 against Altomare to continue to lead Group 1, though she will face Korda in the final leg of the round robin Friday. A win there would give either player the group.
The 64-player field is divided into 16 four-player groups competing in three days of round-robin matches. A win earns one point, a tie earns a half-point and a loss is zero points. The winner of each group moves on to a 16-player, single-elimination bracket beginning Saturday. In the event of a tie for first place in a group, a playoff will determine which player advances. The quarterfinals will be played on Saturday, with the semifinals and final on Sunday.
Overall, 12 golfers are 2-0 through two days of play at Shadow Creek Golf Course, putting each in a strong position to win her group and advance to the 16-person field Saturday.
Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul defeated Mexico’s Gaby Lopes 2 and 1 to get to 2-0 in Group 2. South Korea’s Sei Young Kim upended Japan’s Yuna Nishimura 4 and 2 to advance to 2-0 in Group 4.
Group 5 features Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou leading the way at 2-0 after her 4-and-2 victory over Japan’s Ayaka Furue.
The only group with a pair of 2-0 golfers is Group 9, as South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim and Sweden’s Maja Stark are still perfect and face off Friday.
Other 2-0 golfers after two days include Japan’s Mao Saigo in Group 7 (the only debut golfer at 2-0), Canada’s Brooke M. Henderson in Group 8 (having played only playing 27 holes — the fewest in the field), France’s Celine Boutier in Group 11, South Korea’s A Lim Kim in Group 12, Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom in Group 14 and South Korea’s Narin An in Group 16.
Group 3 and 13 each have a four-way tie for first place at 1-1-0, while England’s Charley Hull and South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai co-lead in Group 6 at 1-0-1.
“I love this format and it’s been a lot of fun,” New Zealand’s Lydia Ko said after winning her Thursday match 6 and 5 over Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels to get into that four-way tie in Group 3. “Yesterday I came off the day not feeling like defeated. I still had a great time.”
Angel Yin (1-0-1) leads Group 10, and Russia’s Nataliya Guseva (1-0-1) is on top in Group 15.
Stephen Curry scores 37 points as Warriors beat Lakers in potential first-round playoff preview
- The Golden State Warriors score their fourth win in a row
- Curry was coming off a 52-point effort, including 12 3-pointers, at Memphis on Tuesday
LOS ANGELES: Stephen Curry scored 37 points, Brandin Podziemski added 28 and the Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 123-116 on Thursday night for their fourth win in a row in a potential first-round playoff preview.
Podziemski had a career-high eight 3-pointers on a night when Curry was 4 of 11 from long range. Curry was coming off a 52-point effort, including 12 3-pointers, at Memphis on Tuesday.
LeBron James had 33 points and nine assists to lead the Lakers. Austin Reaves added 31 points, including nine 3-pointers, Rui Hachimura had 24 points and Luke Doncic had 19 points, missing all six of his 3-point attempts.
Doncic’s basket got the Lakers to 105-99 in the closing minutes. Curry and Podziemski hit back-to-back 3-pointers and James and Reaves answered with ones of their own, leaving the Lakers down by seven.
James and Curry traded scoring runs in the third, when the Lakers closed within eight after trailing by 16 in the second quarter. James had 12 of 14 points for his team early on. Curry ran off 13 in a row and then made three free throws to send the Warriors into the fourth leading 88-77.
Jonathan Kuminga added 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Golden State, which beat the Lakers for the first time in four games this season. The Warriors’ last win in LA came a year ago.
Takeaways
Warriors: They closed a six-game trip — tied for longest of the season — with a 4-2 mark. They remain in a tight battle to hold onto a top-six seed and avoid the play-in tournament with six games left.
Lakers: James went over 11,000 points as a Laker on a 3-pointer in the second quarter, becoming the 10th player in franchise history to do so.
Key moment
Reaves made a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout to leave the Lakers trailing 121-116 in the closing seconds. But Doncic fouled Curry, who made both.
Key stat
The Warriors won without needing Jimmy Butler, who had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. He’d been averaging 17.3 and had 27 against Memphis.
Up next
Both teams complete back-to-backs on Saturday. The Warriors host Denver and the Lakers host New Orleans.
Trump hopeful of ‘great’ PGA-LIV golf merger
- Trump: You’ve got the PGA Tour, you’ve got the LIV tour. And I think having them merge would be a great thing
- PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said earlier this month that Trump’s intervention in ongoing negotiations had “significantly bolstered” hopes of reunifying the sport
MIAMI: President Donald Trump said Thursday he is optimistic of an eventual merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf following a new report of a stalemate in negotiations to reunify the game.
Speaking on Air Force One as he traveled to Florida ahead of this weekend’s LIV Golf Miami event at Trump National Doral, the US leader said he believed a merger was inevitable.
“Ultimately, hopefully the two tours are going to merge,” Trump told reporters. “That’ll be good. I’m involved in that, too, but hopefully we’re going to get the two tours to merge.
“You’ve got the PGA Tour, you’ve got the LIV tour. And I think having them merge would be a great thing.”
Trump, a keen golfer, has hosted two rounds of recent talks at the White House between leaders of the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia-financed LIV as the sport attempts to move on after LIV’s entry in 2021.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said earlier this month that Trump’s intervention in ongoing negotiations had “significantly bolstered” hopes of reunifying the sport.
However, a report in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper on Thursday said negotiations had reached an impasse after the PGA Tour failed to deliver “serious concessions” in exchange for a $1.5 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund which bankrolls LIV.
The Guardian report citing unidentified sources said PIF had sought assurances from the PGA Tour that the LIV circuit would continue following any deal, and that the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, would be appointed as co-chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises.
However, the PGA Tour rejected both of those requests in a response to LIV sent on Monday, according to The Guardian.
News of the deadlock comes ahead of the first major of the year at next week’s Masters at Augusta National, where 12 players from LIV Golf will tee off against top rivals from the PGA Tour.
Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, one of the highest-profile players to defect to LIV Golf, admitted this week that he was disappointed that the Saudi-funded circuit had not progressed further in its four seasons.
“I think we all hoped it would have been a little bit further along, and that’s no secret,” he said. “But they’re making progress and it seems to be going in the right direction.”
Enzo Fernandez grabs winner as Chelsea beats Tottenham to climb to 4th in Premier League
- Chelsea climbed above Newcastle and Manchester City into fourth place in the Premier League
Enzo Fernandez sent Chelsea back into the Champions League qualification positions with a second-half header that secured a 1-0 win over Tottenham in a typically feisty Premier League derby between the London rivals on Thursday.
The Argentina midfielder got in between defenders to nod home Cole Palmer’s cross in the 50th minute at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea climbed above Newcastle and Manchester City into fourth place in the Premier League, which should have five spots in next season’s Champions League. There are eight rounds left in the league.
This fixture has been wild and chaotic in recent years and while the latest edition was hardly a classic, there were 10 yellow cards and a melee to go with two goals disallowed after video review — one for each side.
Moises Caicedo thought he had put Chelsea 2-0 ahead in the 56th when he volleyed home sweetly after a free kick was only partially cleared, but the goal was ruled out for offside against Levi Colwill in the buildup after long VAR check that frustrated fans.
Tottenham substitute Pape Sarr then had a long-range strike scrubbed off because he fouled Caicedo before surging forward to take his shot. In the end, Sarr lost his goal and was booked for his challenge.
Tottenham captain Son Heung-min had a chance saved by Robert Sanchez before 12 minutes of stoppage time.
“If we want to become an important team, we need to win in a dirty way, ugly way,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said, “and (I’m) quite happy.”
Tottenham stayed in 14th place, with its priority now clearly the Europa League after reaching the quarterfinals. This was another below-par league performance that will pile the pressure on its under-fire manager, Ange Postecoglou, who was unhappy at Sarr’s goal being disallowed and faced some criticism from fans for his substitutions during the second half.
“My subs have been booed, it’s not the first time,” Postecoglou said. “They are allowed to boo.”
The match saw the return from injury of Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson after two months out.
Pakistan assumes Asian Cricket Council presidency, vows to accelerate sport’s global influence
- Defending champions India are scheduled to host Asia Cup later this year in T20 format
- ACC, governing body for cricket in Asia, includes Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday assumed the presidency of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the board confirmed, vowing to enhance the sport’s global influence.
The ACC is the governing body for cricket in Asia, established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport across the continent. It organizes major tournaments like the Asia Cup and works to improve cricket standards, provide financial support and strengthen ties between member countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka held ACC’s presidency before Pakistan officially took over the post from it on Apr. 3, according to the PCB.
“In accordance with the decision of the Asian Cricket Council, Pakistan has officially taken over the presidency from Sri Lanka Cricket,” the PCB said in a statement.
“Effective immediately, Pakistan will lead the council in its mission to promote and expand cricket across the Asian continent.”
It added that the ACC was “poised to strengthen and expand” cricket’s presence across Asia by fostering growth and unity within the sport.
Meanwhile, in a press release, the ACC quoted Naqvi as saying that he was honored to assume the regional cricketing body’s presidency.
“Asia remains the heartbeat of world cricket and I am committed to working with all member boards to accelerate the game’s growth and global influence,” he said.
“Together, we will unlock new opportunities, foster greater collaboration and take Asian cricket to unprecedented heights.”
The PCB chief also extended his sincere wishes to outgoing ACC president Shammi Silva from Sri Lanka for his leadership and contributions during his tenure.
India will host the next edition of the Men’s Asia Cup cricket tournament in the T20 format in 2025 as a precursor to the T20 World Cup scheduled in the country in 2026.
The 2023 edition, hosted by the PCB, was held in a “hybrid model” as India refused to travel to Pakistan and played their matches in Sri Lanka.
India are the defending Asia Cup champions, and have won three of the last four editions of the tournament. They beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final of last year’s 50-overs edition in Colombo.
