WeeklySA_AdminSTRONG SA TRACK AND FIELD TEAM FOR MAURITIUS
SA’s 100m star Akani Simbine will lead a strong team, featuring Caster Semenya in the 5 000m, for the African Track and Field Championships taking place in Mauritius next month. Olympic gold medalist Wayde van Niekerk was not named in the 89-member team, however, after withdrawing from the South African Athletics Championships suddenly through injury last month.
Simbine will look for revenge against the in-form 100m sprinter in the world at the moment, Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala, who beat Simbine in Germiston in April. Omanyala ran the leading 100m time in the world this year – 9.85sec – at the Kip Keino Classic early this month before claiming the 100m and 200m double at the International Castiglione Athletic Meeting in Italy last weekend.
Team SA’s 89-member squad will also feature Caster Semenya, who has battled to make her mark in the 5 000m event after being barred from running her favoured 800m race due to IAAF laws. Athletics South Africa president James Moloi said the team headed to the tournament beginning 8 to 12 June would comprise the bulk of the one headed to Oregon later in July
YOUNG SA TALENT INVITED TO FRENCH OPEN
Three young tennis talents from South Africa have been selected to attend an international BNP Paribas Young Talent activation at the French Open in Paris on Saturday, 28th May.
The three players travelling to the international event include Simphiwe Ngwenya, Heike Janse van Vuuren and Devin Badernhorst. Among them is Fifteen-year-old Ngwenya from Cato Crest township outside Durban who has honed his talent in the BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis Programme. After taking up the sport in 2016, he was one of the outstanding performers in the second edition of the competition in 2021.
Speaking about his impending travels, Ngwenya said: “This event is another amazing opportunity for my future in tennis and I feel very fortunate to be chosen to represent South Africa in this programme thanks to the sponsorship of BNP Paribas. I look forward to meeting some of the best young talent from across the world and testing my skills against them.”
ZWANE OFFICIALLY APPOINTED AMAKHOSI HEAD COACH
Kaizer Chiefs have officially appointed Arthur Jabulani Zwane as the senior team’s head coach on a three-year deal, effective immediately. Soweto-born Zwane has previously stood in as the head coach on a temporary basis at various times in the past – most recently in April following the departure of Stuart Baxter – where he led the team for the final seven league matches of the 2021/22 season.
Earlier in the campaign he had taken the helm for three matches leading up to the festive break during the Covid-19 outbreak in December 2021. He was also in charge towards the end of last season, overseeing the team in the last two DStv Premiership matches of the 2020/21 season and the two-legged CAF Champions League semi-final against Wydad Casablanca.
He won the league matches and managed to sneak the team into the top 8 on the last day and qualified Kaizer Chiefs for the historic CAF Champions League finals. With 22 years of service under his belt, Zwane is as steeped in the traditions and culture of Kaizer Chiefs as one can be. He enjoyed an illustrious career as a skilful winger, amassing 32 goals in 252 appearances in all competitions for Amakhosi.
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