A review of the top 5 Africa-related sports stories from the weekend – May 3-5, 2019.
Esperance and Wydad Casablanca qualify for the CAF Champions League final
Esperance of Tunisia and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco qualified for the CAF Champions League final on Saturday, setting up a third consecutive title decider between the North African clubs.
Trophy-holders Esperance drew 0-0 away at TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo in a semi-final second leg to advance 1-0 on aggregate.
Wydad proved equally strong defensively to force a 0-0 stalemate away to Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa and progressed 2-1 overall.
It will be the second Champions League final between Esperance and Wydad with the Tunisians winning 1-0 on aggregate in 2011.
South Africa beat Uganda to lift Baseball Africa Cup
South Africa defeated Uganda 27-0 in the Baseball Africa Cup final in Johannesburg. The victory meant the hosts have booked their place at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Europe-Africa qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The crushing victory meant the hosts had completed the tournament with five wins out of five at Boksburg City Stadium.
Baseball is making its return to the Olympic Games in 2020, having made its last appearance at Beijing 2008.
Defiant Caster Semenya vows to fight on after Diamond league win
A defiant Caster Semenya easily won the women’s 800m race at the Doha Diamond League meeting on Friday. The two-time Olympic champion ran two days after losing her appeal against a new rule restricting testosterone levels in females at the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
Semenya finished with a time of 1:54.98 ahead of Burundi’s Francine Nyonsamba who came second in 1:57.76 with Ajee Wilson of the USA coming third in 1:58.83. In a post race interview, Semenya denied rumours that she plans to retire and declared “No man, or any other human, can stop me from running.”
Kenyan and Ethiopian runners shine in Skopje marathon
Kenya’s Eunice Muchiri was winner of a keenly-contested women’s race at the Wizz Air Skopje Marathon in Macedonia on Saturday. Muchiri broke clear on the second half of the race to win in a big PB and race record of 2:33:38 ahead of compatriots Euliter Tanui (2:35:32) and Naomi Limamurei (2:38:32).
Ethiopia won the men’s race with Chalachew Asmamaw Tiruneh winning in 2:15:37 from Kenya’s Wilfred Korir (2:16:54) and Ethiopia’s Getaye Gelaw (2:19:32)
Newcastle’s Ghanaian winger, Christian Atsu scores in defeat to Liverpool
Ghanaian winger, Christian Atsu was on the score sheet for Newcastle United as the Magpies failed to stop Liverpool’s relentless march towards the English Premier League title.
Atsu scored the equaliser from close range after Virgil Van Dijk had put Liverpool ahead in the 13th minute. The Ghanaians’s goal wasnt enough however to save the Magpies from going down to a 3-2 defeat.