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IOL News
a day ago
- Sport
- IOL News
Haashim Pead in Lions' Currie Cup squad after dream U20 tournament with Junior Springboks
Scrumhalf Haashim Pead, who starred for the Junior Boks at the World Rugby U20 Championship, has been included in the Lions' Currie Cup squad. Star Junior Springbok scrumhalf Haashim Pead has been included in the Lions' Currie Cup squad following his outstanding performances at the U20 World Championships. Pead won the Player-of-the-Tournament award after the Junior Boks beat their New Zealand counterparts in the final to lift the trophy for the first time since 2012. The speedy No 9 scored six tries and assisted four during the tournament. He also surpassed France star Antoine Dupont's record for running metres by a scrumhalf at the tournament, racking up 232m from 15 carries during the pool stages. On Wednesday, Pead was also invited to the Springboks' training camp ahead of their home Rugby Championship matches against Australia. He will be joined in camp by flank Bathobele Hlekani and outside centre Cheswill Jooste to see first hand how the Boks prepare for a big tournament.
Time of India
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
U20 Worlds silver medallist wrestler gets 4-year doping ban
Representative image (ANI Photo) NEW DELHI: A former U20 World Championships finalist wrestler and a junior Nationals medallist boxer have been sanctioned by the National Anti-Doping Agency (Nada) after traces of prohibited substances were found in their respective urine samples. Delhi's Nitika, last year's U20 Worlds silver medallist in the women's 62kg, has been banned for four years by the Nada's anti-doping disciplinary panel (ADDP) after returning positive for androgenic steroids (AAS). She was tested out-of-competition by the Nada's dope control officers. Her ban period retrospectively kicked off from May 28, 2024. Nitika, who is a Delhi University (DU) student, was considered a strong force in the 62kg division, having secured a gold medal at the U23 Asian Championships in Jordan last year. She had also won a gold in the juniors category (U20) at another Asian meet in Thailand. For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The Penn State wrestling dynasty: Why Bo Bassett may join PJ Duke, Marcus Blaze, after all
The national champion Penn State wrestling program already is restocking with the country's two top recruits, arriving this summer. It now gets another shot at landing the No. 1 prospect who's a year younger. Advertisement Home-state phenom Bo Bassett − the top-rated recruit in the 2026 class − somewhat surprisingly spurned coach Cael Sanderson and the Nittany Lions nearly five months ago when he picked the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Johnstown, Pa. senior-to-be chose Iowa the day before his Bishop McCort High teammate Jax Forrest − the nation's No. 2 recruit − picked Oklahoma State. Suddenly, though, Bassett is back on the market. He announced Sunday evening that he was de-committing from Iowa and re-opening his recruiting process. It's uncertain yet when the undefeated high school wrestler (126-0 with one season remaining) will decide again. His new finalists, according to FloWrestling, are Penn State, NCAA runner-up Nebraska and Oklahoma State, coached by Penn State icon David Taylor. Iowa wrestling commit Bo Bassett gives a thumbs up to the crowd during the ÒFloWrestling Night in AmericaÓ event Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. Bassett would bolster a Penn State program that owns the top roster in the sport and is arguably the greatest ongoing sports dynasty in America. PSU has won 12 of the past 14 NCAA Championships, including four straight. He would be joining incoming freshmen PJ Duke and Marcus Blaze, the nation's top two recruits, and Jayden James, the No. 3 prospect in his own 2026 class. Advertisement Bassett's younger brother, Melvin Miller, the nation's top recruit in the 2027 recruiting class, has yet to pick his college destination. His top choices are Penn State, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Pitt, Nebraska, Michigan, Missouri and North Carolina State − but not Iowa. Bassett posted about his move on Facebook: "This wasn't easy, but I believe it's not the right fit for me as a wrestler, a person or for my faith journey. I'm grateful for the opportunity, and I'll never speak a bad word about (Iowa's) program. This is about finding the place God wants me to be. This is a huge decision in my life and it has to be the right one. 'I would like to thank all of the Iowa fans who have supported me. You have been amazing and I am grateful for the support you showed me. I have opened up my recruitment." Advertisement Best in the nation: Potential Penn State wrestling star PJ Duke wins junior Hodge Trophy. What does it mean? No. 1 winning percentage: Penn State wrestling at Final X: Can Mitchell Mesenbrink be the best ever? His PSU salary revealed: Here's how Penn State's Cael Sanderson's salary compares to James Franklin Bassett won a world title at the Cadet World Wrestling Championships and was third at last year's U20 World Championships. He recently won another PIAA title with a 52-0 season at Bishop McCort. Bassett did lose to Penn State's Blaze at the recently freestyle Final X competition in New Jersey. There, Blaze hit a big third-period scoring move to win their 65 kilogram weight class match, 5-1. Advertisement Frank Bodani covers Penn State wrestling for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Bo Bassett leaves Iowa. Will he join PJ Duke at Penn State wrestling?
The South African
21-06-2025
- Sport
- The South African
Gayton McKenzie in embarrassing water polo gaffe
While it's true that South Africa are in the midst of a 'golden' period – especially on the sporting field – Minister of Sport Gayton McKenzie may just have gotten a little too carried away with his patriotism. It appears that, embarrassingly, McKenzie did not pay careful enough attention to one of his 'own' sporting federation's teams competing in Europe. McKenzie took to social media on Saturday to post: 'We are the best sporting nation in the world ' in reaction to an image of the South African U20 water polo side finishing 19th – and second LAST – at the U20 World Championships in Croatia. Awkward! Clearly Gayton McKenzie had not done his homework and assumed, one can only imagine, that the side had in fact won the tournament when it clearly states '19th/20th final'. Even more embarrassing for the Minister of Sport was the fact that the team had to finance their own way to the tournament. The team included schoolboys as young as 16. The gaffe quickly did the rounds on WhatsApp groups on Saturday, to the amusement of many. In their initial group matches, the South African side suffered heavy defeats against Brazil (25-6) and Germany (30-1). In what was then termed the classification round, the South African side then went down 7-6 to Kazakhstan, 21-8 to Colombia and 21-10 to Canada. That put them in the playoff for 19th-20th place against New Zealand – a match they won 16-15 following a penalty shootout. In total, the South African U20 side played six matches, lost five, won one, scored 47 goals and conceded a whopping 119 for an average defeat of 20-8. None of the South African team's matches were against any of the eight best sides in the world who were drawn in Division 1. Quite why Gayton McKenzie was celebrating those performances so enthusiastically, is somewhat puzzling. Even more baffling was the thousands of 'likes' and messages of congratulations that the post received! While South Africa does currently boast the world champion Springboks and Proteas, the world's strongest man and woman, and several of the fastest athletes in the world – among other impressive feats – it does not have – and will never lay claim to having – a water polo side that will ever win an international tournament. You'd think even the most optimistic Minister of Sport would know that … Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
01-06-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Young Koekemoer has a bright future ahead after helping South Africa to gold
Leendert Koekemoer's maturity that helped South Africa win the men's 4x400m gold medal at the World Athletics (WA) Relay Championships in China was replaced by a youthful exuberance when the national relay teams touched down at OR Tambo International Airport on May 14. The 400m sensation and his teammates were welcomed with fanfare after the men's 4×100 m and 4x400m clinched gold medals. The women's 4×400 m got a bronze, as South Africa ended the competition at the top of the medal standings. The 18-year-old will jet off to Tokyo for the WA Championships in September after the teams qualified for the competition. Koekemoer shone in the final with a blistering third leg. Botswana had a slight advantage over South Africa when he received the baton. He found his footing, running the second fastest split of 44.23 to finish strongly to give anchor, Zakithi Nene, the easy job of securing the gold. 'It was fantastic. I did not go to the relays to run a fast time. I just wanted to give the baton to Zakithi first. The time came by itself. I did not realise it until the end,' he said. Sharing his experience as the youngest member in the team, the Dalview resident thanked his seniors for taking him in and showing him the ropes. 'I had a wonderful experience. It was my first time out of the country. All the senior guys helped me. They invited me in. They helped me with this and that. It was a pleasant experience.' Koekemoer first showed glimpses of his potential two years ago when he won the national U18 400m title in 46.38. However, injuries affected his progress last year. He returned strong this year, starting with a blistering 45.96 at the Wildeklawer TUT Top 14 in January, dipping under 46 seconds for the first time. He has since broken the 46-second barrier three more times, including breaking the SA U20 record when he ran 45.03 at the ASA senior track and field championships in Pochefstroom last month, smashing Riaan Dempers' 31-year-old record. Growing up in Brakpan, the Helpmekaar Kollege matriculant never envisaged he would enjoy so much success in the sport he loves this early in his career. 'I always wanted to run, but did not know I could run this well. If not for my parents, coach Lindi du Plessis and training partner Lythe Pillay, I would not be here. I want to keep my head in the game. The 400m is a very mental race. You must know the lactic will come at the end,' Koekemoer. Pillay, a former national 400m champion from Brentwood Park, is a role model for Koekemoer, who described Pillay's significant influence on his career. 'I started training with Lythe when I was in Grade Eight. I have been with him my whole career. I trained every 400m session with him. If not for him pushing me, I would not be here. He is a role model and someone you can look up to.' Also Read: Pillay on course to defend title at nationals Also Read: Pillay wins gold in one-lap dash at U20 World Championships At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
