THURSDAY, 1.00PM:
THE South African duo of Amanda Coetzer and Joanette Kruger advanced to the quarterfinals of the Luxembourg women’s championships in Luxembourg on Wednesday with hard fought victories over Silvia Farima and Sandrine Testud respectivly.
Coetzer, who turned 26 on Tuesday, beat Farima 6-2 3-6 6-3 and Kruger hammered Testud of France 6-2 6-1. “I’m happy that I’ve beaten the third seed but it really wasn’t a good match,” said Kruger.
Coetzer said Farima was a tough opponent to beat. “It was a very difficult match for me because Farima succeded in attacking my weak points,” she said. “I was pushed into making too many individual mistakes.”
SPORT BRIEFS
BETTER NEVER THAN LUYT SOUTH African Rugby Football Union president Dr Louis Luyt will not hand over the Bankfin Currie Cup trophy to the president of the winning union on Saturday because he will not attend the final at Newlands. Luyt has informed the two finalists — Free State and Western Province — of his decision.
BLUE BULLS OUT OF RED BLUE Bulls Rugby Union, which is rumoured to be R39-million in debt, on Wednesday received a massive sponsorship boost when Federal Credit Corporation announced its R40-million sponsorship of the union.
RAMAALA VICTORIOUS SOUTH Africa’s Hendrick Ramaala won a four-man sprint finish on Wednesday to win the “Race through History” in the Serbian capital Belgrade.
GAUTENG BOWLERS STRUGGLE DEFENDING champions Central Gauteng lost both of their matches on the second day of the Absa Insurance Brokers South African men’s interprovincial bowls championships in Durban on Wednesday. They lost 4-3 to Western Province in the morning and 5-2 to Port Natal in the afternoon. Central Gauteng’s chances of retaining the Division 1 title look very slim.
WESTERNS ‘WON’T CHANGE’ WESTERN Province rugby assistant coach Alan Solomons said his team will not change its tactics in the Bankfin Currie Cup final against Free State at Newlands on Saturday. “Why should we change?” he asked. “It will not happen on Saturday. No matter what, we will stick to our game plan,” said Solomons.