Sports Highlights 23 January to 29 January

The new year is now properly in progress and in the sports world there is already plenty of action. Apart from schools athletic unique to this time of year, there are also a few other highlights to look forward to.

Cricket

The second part of the local Momentum One Day Cup tournament starts this weekend.

The Titans missed the bus totally in the recent Ram Slam T20 series and hard work is yet to be done if they hope to qualify for the semi-finals of the one-day tournament to be played on the 10th of February.

After their struggles in the first part of the Momentum ODI series, during which they could only manage to win two out of five games, the Titans will have to come up with a great effort if they want to end among the top three.

The Titans will play against the Knights this Friday (23 January) in Kimberley.

* South Africa has already clinched the one-day series against the West Indies with their victory in East London on Thursday, but there is still plenty of action left in the series. On Sunday, the Proteas and the Windies will play in the fourth game of the series on St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.

Good news for local cricket lovers is that the series concludes on SuperSport Park in Centurion with the final game next Wednesday (28 January). This is a day/night game and the action will start at 13:30.

Rugby

New Bulls recruits Lappies Labuschagne and Trevor Nyakane will face their former Cheetahs teammates in Polokwane on Saturday when the two SuperRugby sides clash in a friendly match in the Peter Mokaba Stadium.

Flanker Labuschagne and Nyakane, who was selected at loosehead prop, moved north at the start of the season and will be part of the first outing of the season for the Pretoria side.

Nyakane will be part of an international front row, with former Springboks Werner Kruger and Bandise Maku also in the starting team.

Springboks JJ Engelbrecht and Deon Stegmann are starting at centre and flank respectively, but Arno Botha and Piet van Zyl will play off the bench. It will be a first appearance for Botha after he ruptured knee ligaments at the same venue a year ago.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke is resting incumbent Springboks like Jan Serfontein and Victor Matfield, but still picked a very capable side packed with former Junior Springboks. Ludeke was keen to get the season underway, saying he would be looking to give more players a run in a match against Saracens in London on 31 January.

The game in Polokwane starts at 17:00 and Rekord will keep readers informed from the stadium via Twitter. So make sure you follow us on @RekordSport.

Athletics

The Wonder Park Akasia “Four in one” Road Race, comprising a 42.2km standard marathon, a 21.1km half marathon, a 10km road race and a 5km fun run will take place at Wonder Park Shopping Centre in Karenpark this Saturday (24 Jan).

The race is presented by the Akasia Athletic Club and it gives all athletes the opportunity to test their fitness levels this early in the year. Those who have worked hard during the holiday season can even qualify for this year’s Two Oceans and Comrades marathons in this race.

The marathon athletes will start first at 05:30. The half marathon will start at 05:45. Then follows the 10km race at 06:00 and the fun run will start last at 06:10.

Tennis

For tennis lovers, the year usually starts with excitement because of the Australian Open, which takes place in the second half of January.

The tournament has already reached its halfway stage this weekend. This tournament, known as the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, is played on the outdoor hard courts at the Melbourne Park.

The tournament is known for its surprising results, and many top players usually struggle to make the play-offs of the Australian Open. The tournament is also known for the scorching heat in which games are usually played. January is a very hot month in Melbourne and especially the players from the northern hemisphere usually struggle in this tournament.

Kevin Anderson of South Africa is seeded 14th for the men’s singles in the tournament, and by the time this preview was completed, he had already qualified for the fourth round.