MONDAY, 12.15PM:
ZIMBABWEAN Nick Price won the R1,9-million Dimension data Pro-Am by five shots at Sun City on Sunday, successfully defending the title he won last year.
Price, who said the course set-up was extremely difficult, shot a 12-under-par 276, five better than fellow Zimbabwean and runner-up Mark McNulty. South African Tjaart van der Walt picked up third spot on five-under.
In a disappointing final round, McNulty never looked set to chase Price’s lead, and Price could not improve on his overnight 12-under.
Even though the day’s play was somewhat frustrating for both Price and McNulty, there could be nothing frustrating about the weight of their purses after the tournament. Price took home R300 200, and McNulty’s bank balance will be R218 500 heftier on Monday.
SPORT BRIEFS
MATLALA LUCKY TO WIN
BABY Jake Matlala was not at his best when he beat Victor Burgos in defence of his IBA junior flyweight title in Baton Rouge Louisiana early on Saturday morning. After a clash of heads had opened up a deep cut on Burgos’s forehead, his corner were in a fix trying to stop the blood. Burgos, however, battled on until the fight was stopped by the ring doctor. In accordance with the IBA rules the scorecards were consulted and Matlala edged in 76-76, 77-75 and 77-75.
MAKEPULA KOs PALABRICA IN THREE
PROSPECT of the year Hawk Makepula pushed his record up to an unbeaten 11 after knocking out Phillipino Reggie Palabrica in the third round of their flyweight bout in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
BOXING PROMOTOR MURDERED
EAST London boxing promoter Zolani Moshani was shot dead near his Mdantsane home on Sunday, police said on Monday. Moshani was shot in the head by four armed men who drove away in his car after the incident. The car was later found abandoned nearby.
SRI LANKA NAME TOURING SQUAD
SRI LANKA on Monday named a 16-man squad led by skipper Arjuna Ranatunga for the upcoming cricket tour of South Africa. Sri Lankan cricket authorities said the tour will run from March 3 to April 25.
Sri Lanka squad:
Arjuna Ranatunga (captain), Aravinda de Silva (vice captaain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Roshan Mahanama, Hashan Tillekeratne, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Sajeeva de Silva, Mahela Jayawardena, Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana and Pramodya Wickramasinghe.
SAFA BIDS FOR WORLD CUP
THE South African Football Association (Safa) officially announced in Ouagadougou on Monday that South Africa is bidding to host the World Cup Finals in 2006. “We made our formal bid in a submission to the 21st Congress of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on February 10,” said Safa president Molefi Oliphant. Safa CEO Danny Jordaan said Safa has the support of the government in the bid as well as financial backing from sponsors. “We are talking of millions here and we will have no real problem raising the necessary money. It will also be a boost to our economy.”
COETZER IN FED CUP SQUAD
WORLD women’s tennis sixth seed Amanda Coetzer has been named in a seven-woman team to represent SA at the Fed Cup Euro/Africa qualifying Group I tennis tournament in La Manga, Spain, from April 14-18. The other members of the squad are: Joanette Kruger, Mariaan de Swardt, Liezel Horn, Nannie de Villiers, Giselle Swart and Alicia Pillay.
MUTOLA SETS NEW RECORD
MOZAMBICAN Maria Mutola broke one of the longest-standing world records in athletics when she won the women’s 800m in one minute 56,36 seconds at Lieven in France on Sunday, beating the world record of 1:56,40 set by East German Christine Wachtel in Vienna 10 years ago.
ATHOL ROWAN DIES AT 77
SOUTH African cricketer Athol Rowan died on Sunday aged 77 in Hermanus. Rowan and his elder brother Eric both played for South Africa in the late Forties and early Fifties.
HEATH FINISHES 26th
SOUTH AFRICAN skier Alex Heath (19), finished 26th out of 66 in the men’s slalom at the Nagano Winter Olympics. Heath’s coach said: “Alex had something to prove and he did it in emphatic style.”
BACHER SEEKS COACHES
UNITED Cricket Board managing director Ali Bacher will go to Durban this week to start a tour around the country in order to find top specialist coaches. Bacher said the UCB will search in SA for coaches, but if the need arises overseas coaches will not be overlooked.