Sonny Side of Sports - VOA Africa

The Milwaukee Bucks began defense of their National Basketball Association title with a 127-to-104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Before the game, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and his older brother, Thanasis, showed off their championship rings and the NBA trophy.

We'll hear from Giannis on Wednesday's show, as well as three other NBA stars - Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and LeBron James.

Also on the program, "Iron Mike" Mbonye will chat with Patrick Engelbrecht, Director of Global Scouting for the NBA's Toronto Raptors team.

The National Basketball Association officially tips off its 76th season Tuesday night with two games. In the opening contest, two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks will host the Brooklyn Nets.

Sonny will have a preview of the new season, and also on the show, "Iron Mike" Mbonye will talk with Onifade Ismail, who was recently re-elected the president of Benin's basketball federation.

Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah is being hailed as the world's best player by his Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp. We'll hear Klopp's comments on Monday's show, and Prince Nesta and "Iron Mike" Mbonye will have reports on Salah, a two-time African Footballer of the Year.

Also on the show, Yaw Ofosu Larbi will have a report on the 14th African Swimming Championships, which ended Sunday in Accra, Ghana.

On Friday's show, we'll hear from Otto Addo, a former player for Ghana's national men's football team, who was recently appointed an assistant coach on the squad.

Otto was a member of the Ghana team that played at the country's first-ever World Cup in 2006, and he'll talk about Ghana's chances of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Also on the show, Sonny has a belated Sonny Side of Sports birthday salute for Nigeria football captain Ahmed Musa, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Thursday.

Ahmed also recently celebrated his 100th and 101st international appearances for Nigeria.

ulius Yego, Kenya's former world javelin champion, will talk with Prince Nesta on Thursday's show about the death of his Olympic teammate, Agnes Tirop.

Also, David Kwallimwa, an Online Sports Editor for the Nation Media Group in Kenya, will talk with "Iron Mike" Mbonye about the death of the 25-year-old Tirop, whose body was found Wednesday with multiple stab wounds.

During Wednesday's show, we'll hear from Masai Ujiri, the President of the NBA's Toronto Raptors team and the Giants of Africa Foundation.

Masai says his foundation is building basketball courts across Africa. Sonny met Masai in 2018 at the Basketball Without Borders Africa camp in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Also on the program, Sonny will recap Tuesday's results in Africa's qualifying competition for the 2022 FIFA World Cup football tournament in Qatar.

Germany is the first country to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup football tournament in Qatar after booking its place with a 4-0 win against host North Macedonia. Chelsea Man Timo Werner (R) had one of the goals for the Germans, who have lifted the World Cup four times.

During Tuesday's show, Sonny will also recap the results of Monday's African World Cup qualifying matches.

Tyson Fury's 11th round KO victory against Deontay Wilder is generating buzz from boxing fans all over the world.Fury retained his WBC heavyweight title in a classic slugfest in Las Vegas, Nevada.

On Monday's show, Sonny will have reaction from Fury as well as comments from "The Big John" Senibo, a former Rivers State (Nigeria) heavyweight champion.

It's KNOCKOUT programming, so tune in today.

40 African football teams resumed their quest this week to qualify for next year's FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

On Friday's show, Sonny will feature reports from Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda on the African World Cup qualifying competition.

In one of the African World Cup qualifiers Thursday, Uganda scored a 1-0 road victory against neighbor Rwanda.

African runners are expected to challenge for titles in two big upcoming marathons in the United States.

The Chicago Marathon will be held Sunday, and the Boston Marathon on Monday, October 11.

During Thursday's show, "The Energetic" Andy Edwards will chat with Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivray about the historic course.

And Sonny will continue his conversation with boxing analyst Nnamdi Moweta about Saturday night's WBC heavyweight title fight between the champion, Tyson Fury, and Deontay Wilder.