With rugby for now in the background for the next eight weeks or so, South Africans can savour the greatest golf show on local soil this weekend.
Golf
It’s that time of year when golf lovers can look forward to the action at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City for the Nedbank Golf Challenge, formerly known as the Million Dollar Golf Tournament and also colloquially seen as Africa’s Major.
Ross Fisher started the tournament on Thursday as the early leader and South Africa’s George Coetzee, Germany’s Marcel Siem and Frenchman Alexander Levy were his closest challengers in what has been a promising start for these three newcomers.
The man from Pretoria and former Affie, Coetzee, was at one stage tied for the lead with Fisher in a round where he made an incredible par from deep in the rough on the par-five 14th hole.
No South African has won the Nedbank Golf Challenge since Trevor Immelman in 2007, and Coetzee seemed determined to change that with his start.
The people of Pretoria will hope Coetzee can surprise and become the first player from this region to win the prestigious tournament. Other stars in action are players like Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Thomas Bjorn and South Africans like Tim Clark, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen.
The tournament will finish on Sunday.
For more information, click here.
Sevens Rugby
Three South African Sevens representative teams will be in action over the next three days in a festival of international Sevens rugby action in Dubai.
The Blitzboks took to the field this morning in round 2 of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, hoping to improve on their fourth place in round one at the Gold Coast in October. Their pool opponents are Portugal, Canada and Wales.
The SA Sevens Academy side warmed up for their participation at the Dubai Invitational event with a convincing cup win last week in Harare. Their group opponents are Georgia, Poland and The Royals.
The Springbok Women’s Sevens are also in Dubai competing in the Women’s Sevens World Series, which concludes today. The team suffered defeats against Australia and France and secured a 17-17 draw against Spain earlier on Thursday.
SuperSport 6 will broadcast all the Dubai Sevens (World Series) live from 07:00 on Friday.
Follow the progress of the Blitzboks and the other two South Africans teams on Twitter @Blitzboks and the Springbok Fan Page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/springsboks.
Cricket
While South African cricket fans are busy shaking their feathers in preparation for the tour of the West Indies, which starts soon, there are two matches to look forward to this weekend.
On Friday night a star-studded Springbok rugby team will compete in a T20 cricket match, facing the Proteas at the Wanderers in Johannesburg for the Nelson Mandela Legacy Cup.
The Springbok team includes players like Victor Matfield, Willie le Roux, Willem Alberts, Francois Hougaard, Bismarck du Plessis, Duane Vermeulen and Jan Serfontein. The team will be couched by Mark Boucher and managed by Flip van der Merwe.
On Sunday the focus will again be at the Wanderers when the Ram Slam T20 semi final between die Highveld Lions and the Knights will take place. The winner of this game plays against the Cape Cobras in Cape Town in the final next Friday.
For more cricket news and complete match schedules, click here.
Road Running
Global Athletic Club & Great Run Association present the last of their Great Run Series on Saturday at Weskoppies in Pretoria West. The event consists of a 6km fun run and a 10km road race. Starting time is at 07:00 at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital.
Enquiries: Race Secretary on 076-480-3435.
Soccer
Following last week’s final of the Telkom Knockout series soccer lovers can turn their attention to the PSL this weekend.
Eight matches will be completed this weekend. The focus of local supporters on Friday at 20:00 will be at the Harry Gwala Stadium where AmaTuks will play against Maritzburg Utd. The team from Pietermaritzburg are doing very well and currently lies fourth on the log. Tuks however are struggling and they urgently need a win to get away from the bottom three spots on the log.
On Saturday evening at 20:15 Mamelodi Sundowns will take to the field at the Lucas Moripe Stadium for their game against Free State Stars. With a little luck a win could let Sundowns slide into the top three on the log. They are currently in fifth place.
On Sunday afternoon at 15:30 SuperSport United clash with Ajax Cape Town starts in the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town. The visitors will also have to work hard and a victory is non-negotiable if they wants to move upwards from 11th position.
However, the most interest will probably be at the FNB stadium on Saturday at 15:30 for the big Soweto derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. Local derbies do not come bigger than this and Saturday’s match will be no exception, given the incredible football usually produced by these two teams.
For more information, click here.
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