Rhodes rower Maike Diekmann picked up a silver medal at the African Rowing Championships in Tunisia on 22 October, finishing second in the women’s single scull. Having led for much of the race, Diekmann was pipped at the death by a Tunisian sculler. However, she nevertheless picked up Namibia’s first rowing medal. Diekmann is not the only Rhodes rower to have competed outside South Africa over the weekend. On 21 October, Brad Betts and Murray Bales-Smith raced at the 53rd Head of the Charles Regatta in the USA, finishing eighth in the Championship Doubles. Betts and Bales-Smith were racing against…
Author: Leonard Solms
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By Leonard Solms Makana Natural Bodybuilding continued its sensational year with Lesley Sauls and Asaphila Zani qualifying for the World Natural Bodybuilding Championships set to take place in Bordeaux on 24-25 November. The two Grahamstown-based competitors qualified by virtue of their impressive displays at the South African Natural Bodybuilding Championships in Bellville on 30 September. Having finished fourth at last year’s UIBBN World Champs, Sauls will be gunning for gold in his third appearance at the global stage. The Makana Natural Bodybuilding vice-chairman made a serious statement of intent by winning the men’s lightweight under 70kg lineup at the SA…
The past weekend saw archers from Port Elizabeth, East London, Jeffreys Bay, and Grahamstown line up at Alec Mullins hall for the Rhodes Indoor Archery Championships, with those who had travelled from far the 19-20 August tournament not disappointed. Port Elizabeth’s Anton-Pierre Swart from the Compound Men’s Open division shot a Double Game South African National Record, as well as a national colours qualifying score. He was not alone in the latter achievement, as Standard Bow Boys U13 competitors Jacobus horn, Valentino Tistelli and Ross Henderson — also from Port Elizabeth — also achieved scores that met the criteria for…
St. Andrew’s College finished off a superb rugby season on a high note as their 1st XV trounced Dale College 40-17 in Saturday’s Lower Field finale. Matt More, who has shone throughout the year, starred with a hat-trick. The hosts flew straight out of the blocks in the opening minutes as Jack Allanson scored the opening try of the game, which Murray Koster failed to convert. Shortly afterwards, More ran from deep inside his own half to extend the early lead. This time, Koster’s conversion was good. Dale hit back with an unconverted try of their own, but Sean Varty…
Over 300 road runners are expected to take to Grahamstown streets and outlying roads in the annual SPAR Oak Cottage Mountain Drive half-marathon on Saturday, 12 August. The 21.1-kilometre participation league event, sponsored once again by SPAR Oak Cottage and Grocott’s Mail as media partner, is sanctioned by Eastern Province Athletics (EPA) and organised by Grahamstown-based Run/Walk for Life Athletics Club. The race will start and finish at Rhodes University’s Prospect sports complex at the western end of African Street. Walkers will have the chance to participate in the half-marathon and will start with the runners at 8 am. From…
By LEONARD SOLMS Kingswood College 1st team brought a mixed rugby season to the perfect ending when they edged Graeme College 15-12 at City Lords on Wednesday night. The pulsating encounter saw Graeme go into the break with a 12-7 lead, only for a late fightback from the hosts seeing them steal the game. Graeme started the first half off well, piling on the pressure and had a chance to draw first blood through a long-range Sivuyisiwe Ngqiyaza penalty kick just inside the Kingswood half. However, the fly-half failed to put points on the board. With 11 minutes left before…
The second round of the Steinhoff International FNB Rhodes Internal Rugby League on 1 August saw two of the favourites clash, as Dream claimed a narrow 18-13 win over Heathens. The win leaves dream as one of only two unbeaten sides in the tournament so far, having beaten Troopers 10-0 in a controversial first round fixture that was called off early. The other, GTN, were awarded a 32-0 walkover in their second round fixture after Makhulu Blues forfeited their second consecutive game. Troopers, who recovered from their first round loss to beat Founders 10-0, have added flair to the tournament…
The Steinhoff International FNB Rhodes Internal Rugby League got off to an explosive start on Friday night at Great Field with three cracking games unfolding – one of which was called off early after tensions spilled over. Referee Chesley Daniels brought the game between Dream and Troopers to a halt in the 29th minute of the second half after having clashed with Troopers players and staff. When the fixture was called off, Dream were 10-0 ahead after two unconverted tries. In the other 6 pm kick-off, Heathens got their title defence off to a solid start – beating Phoenix 13-5…
The past weekend saw former Grahamstonian schoolboys make their first Currie Cup appearances since making high-profile moves to their new unions. In the opening round of the competition, some of these players had debuts to forget and others got off to more favourable starts. Friday’s clash between the Free State Cheetahs and the Sharks in Bloemfontein saw Rosko Specman make his debut for the hosts against his former side, starting on the wing. He lined up against veteran prop Ross Geldenhuys, with another former Southern Kings and St. Andrew’s star, Tyler Paul, coming off the bench. The Cheetahs won 47-12,…
DSG’s first netball team scored a resounding 32-17 home win in Friday’s K-Day derby against Kingswood. The hosts dominated from the first whistle to the last, outscoring Kingswood in each quarter of the game. The first quarter saw DSG gain a narrow 8-5 advantage going into the break. However, it was in the second that they truly began to assert their dominance, stretching their lead to 17-9. Kingswood came out of the blocks looking promising in the third quarter, opening the scoring, but DSG once again gained control of the game and stretched their lead to 22-11. Kingswood suddenly gained…