Rahman Amoozad, who won silver on the world stage, stated his readiness to fully dedicate himself to achieving a gold medal at the upcoming 2026 World Wrestling Championships. He describes every training session with the national team as something akin to a battle.
The wrestler in the 65 kg weight class noted that the Iranian national team is undergoing extremely tough training camps despite the intense summer heat as part of their preparation for the World Championships, which will take place in Kazakhstan. Amoozad emphasized that the training sessions are very demanding, and endurance running is one of the most difficult parts of the wrestler's preparation.
He added that there are about three or four months left until the World Championships, and the team fights daily for a spot on the podium. According to Amoozad, every training session at the national team's camp feels like a fight, and they have to overcome this path.
The 23-year-old athlete insists that weather conditions do not affect the team's determination. He reported that they train in the most difficult conditions, regardless of whether it is hot or cold. The team trains in all types of weather because their goal is paramount above everything else.
Amoozad expressed a desire to bring pride to his people and families, stating that they fight, accept difficulties, and essentially enjoy overcoming them.
Looking ahead to the World Championships, Amoozad clearly outlined his intentions. He stated that he will fight with all his might to achieve the best result, giving everything on the mat. The athlete focuses not on opponents, but on improving his own strengths and eliminating weaknesses. With God's grace, he intends to fight for the world championship title.
Springbok Women forward Aseza Hele has returned from an arm injury to the national team's starting lineup for the upcoming tour to Fiji in August.
The 31-year-old player sustained an arm injury earlier this year that required surgery. However, on Tuesday morning, she was included in the 26-person squad led by coach Sue de Bruin, indicating a full recovery.
Hele established herself as an outstanding player at the Women's Rugby World Cup, where she scored a hat-trick against Brazil and helped the Bok Women reach a historic quarter-final. Known for her immense physical strength, her return is a significant advantage for De Bruin and his team, as her absence was very noticeable during the recent two-match test series against the USA in South Africa.
In this series, which ended in a 1-1 draw between the two teams, De Bruin relied on Logan Welman to occupy a backline position. Welman scored two tries in the first match against the USA at Ellis Park stadium and played all 160 minutes in both games. Nevertheless, the 20-year-old Welman was dropped from the squad to make way for the much more experienced Hele.
Hele joins a quartet of players returning to national duties: hooker Lindelva Gwala, Patience Mokone, and Zintle Mpufa. De Bruin also included two players without international experience—Shikwika Lamprecht and Maria Tischermbu, both of whom transitioned from sevens to fifteens.
Sue de Bruin stated via an SA Rugby release on Tuesday: 'Both played well in the sevens tournament this year. I am pleased to see how their skill set enhances our playing style.' He added: 'Furthermore, Aseza and Lindelva bring a lot of experience that we need, as we currently lack some experienced players in the rehabilitation program.'
One player who remains unavailable is versatile defender Nadine Roos, who is sidelined until the end of the year due to injury. Additionally, a group of players will remain in Stellenbosch to continue recovering from various injuries and undergo extra training. These include Sanelisive Charlie, Micke Gunther, Danelle Lochner, Logan Welman, Unam Tose, Jackie Silliers, Ayanda Malinga, and Afife Ngvevu.
The Bok Women will travel to Fiji on Wednesday with assistant coaches Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September. They will play in a two-match test series against the host team, the first of which is next Saturday in Suva. De Bruin, who will remain in Stellenbosch with an expanded squad during the tour, noted: 'It will be a tough trip. For us, in 2026, it all comes down to stepping outside the comfort zone, and in this case—time zones. It is a long journey, but within the broader plan, we must do it when the next World Cup is held in Australia.'
The head coach of the Banyana Banyana team, Disari Ellis, expresses confidence that her national team is capable of recovering and qualifying for the FIFA Women's World Cup, despite an unexpected 2-1 defeat to Tanzania in the first match of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) group stage.
On Monday in Casablanca, Tanzania secured its first victory at WAFCON, leaving Banyana with no room for error ahead of Friday's match against Côte d'Ivoire. During the game in Casablanca, South Africa held second place for a long time.
The loss means that Ellis's team has to catch up with the group leaders, as only the top four teams in the tournament guarantee themselves a spot in next year's FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil. Despite the disappointment with the result and the performance, Ellis emphasized that attention has already shifted to the next meeting.
Ellis stated: 'I think everyone is disappointed with the result and the game, but we must look forward because we are still in the game.' She added that the team is still aiming for the World Cup and believes the next match is a must-win. South Africa will face Côte d'Ivoire, which is showing high confidence after a convincing 4-1 victory over Burkina Faso, rising to first place in Group B.
The coach expects a serious test from one of West Africa's traditional heavyweights. Ellis noted: 'Obviously, we talked about how important this match [against Tanzania] was. Now we are chasing in the group, so it is up to us to raise our standards and show who we really are.' She also warned about the difficulty of the opponent: 'Côte d'Ivoire will be another big challenge... another physical West African team.'
Despite the unsuccessful performance against Tanzania, Ellis sees encouraging signs that can be utilized before the decisive match on Friday. Banyana improved their play after the break and created enough chances, indicating their ability to change the course of the campaign.
'The positive aspects we can take from the game against Tanzania are that we created chances,' she said. She also suggested: 'I thought we played better with the ball in the second half, but we know how well we can play with the ball.'
The experienced coach admitted that defensive shortcomings ultimately proved critical, as Tanzania capitalized on South Africa's uncharacteristic errors. 'There are some weak points in defense that we can still tighten up, because we could have played better on both goals conceded.'
Now Ellis hopes that her experienced squad will respond to this setback as was characteristic of most of her coaching tenure. A victory over Côte d'Ivoire will not only revive Banyana's hopes of reaching the playoffs but also put the team back on track to achieve its main goal—qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup. However, any other outcome will jeopardize South Africa's campaign before the final match of Group B.
According to Chess.com, the USA defeated Uzbekistan with a score of 5:3 after the completion of the first day of the Rapid & Blitz format chess tournament taking place in Miami.
Levon Aronian was the top player for the USA team, scoring 2.5 points out of three games. From Uzbekistan's side, Nodirbek Abdusattorov earned three points out of four, but this was not enough to level the match score.
The tournament is organized by FIDE presidential candidate Vadim Rosenthalstein and uses the Scheveningen system. Within the competition, five leading players from the USA compete against five players from Uzbekistan over two days. The first day was dedicated to rapid chess with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move, while the second day was entirely devoted to blitz with a time control of three minutes plus two seconds per move. The blitz stage is scheduled for Tuesday, July 28, at 13:00 Eastern Time (USA).
The USA team includes Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, and Leiner Dominguez. Uzbekistan is represented by Javohir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboyev, Shamsiddin Vohidov, and Mukhdin Madaminov. In each round, four games are played on four boards, with one player from each team resting on rotation. A team victory in a round earns it two points, regardless of whether it is achieved with a 4-0 or 2.5-1.5 result.
The first round ended with a USA victory of 2.5-1.5. Wesley So secured the only win, defeating Mukhdin Madaminov after employing an innovative pawn sacrifice in the Berlin Defense; the other three games ended in a draw.
The second round was particularly significant, as Uzbekistan needed only one draw to win the round. Hikaru Nakamura unexpectedly lost to Javohir Sindarov in just 22 moves. The Uzbek grandmaster demonstrated play with 99.7% accuracy, aided by his opening preparation. Subsequently, Wesley So helped the USA team by defeating Shamsiddin Vohidov, leading to a round result of 2-2.
The USA won the third round with a score of 2.5-1.5. Nakamura outperformed Vohidov in the endgame with queen and bishop, and Aronian defeated Sindarov using the unconventional move 13...Nxh5. Abdusattorov recorded Uzbekistan's only win in this round, converting an advantage in exchanges into an endgame victory.
The fourth round was split between the teams: Aronian defeated Nodirbek Yakubboyev, and Sindarov defeated Dominguez. The decisive game was between So and Abdusattorov, where castling from opposite sides was used. The Uzbek grandmaster won by utilizing the rook against two minor pieces, while the queens remained on the board.
After the conclusion of the first day, Abdusattorov noted that his team played very well and maintains good chances for overall victory. He added that Americans were considered favorites in blitz, but stated that Uzbekistan could have equal chances with confident play.
