Sports Year kicks off with many highlights
The month of January presents a large variety of top sporting action for South African sports fans this early in the year.
With the arrival of a New Year, sports lovers can always look forward to a new phase of sports action that lies ahead.
The year 2017 is no exception, and after the December holidays during which South Africans could relax and rest in the traditional way at holiday resorts of the country’s coast and inland, everyone should be ready to face a year of lots of action.
The first two months of the year are, of course, traditionally renowned for all the athletic action, especially at schools level.
With the standard of junior athletics in South Africa that can compare with the best in the world these days, we can certainly again look forward to see top achievements on the athletics tracks of local high schools.
Motor sport (Dakar Rally)
Certainly the most famous and also most difficult rally in motor sport, the Dakar Rally, is already under way.
Vehicles in four different categories have already started the race on 2 January.
The event started in Paraguay after which it will then run through Bolivia and Argentina.
The race will finally end in Buenos Aires on 14 January after 12 stages of the competition.
South Africa’s hopes will again be with Giniel de Villiers, who drives for the Toyota team.
He won this race in 2009 in a Volkswagen.
Cricket
Although the Proteas have already won the three-match test series against Sri Lanka, the third and final test is still to be played.
This game starts on 12 January and will take place at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
After the test series the two teams will be involved in a series of three T20 games.
The first of these three games will be played at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday 20 January. The action starts at 18:00.
To conclude their tour, the Sri Lanka team will also take on the Proteas in a series of one-day internationals.
Local cricket fans will again be able to see Faf du Plessis and his men in action live when the last game will be played in Centurion on 10 February.
Meanwhile, the local Sunfoil four-day series also continues and games in the tournament started on 5 January.
The Titans, who are currently top of the log, plays in Bloemfontein against the Knights.
Golf
The annual South African Open golf tournament will, as usual, again be the first major golf event of the year in South Africa.
This prestigious tournament will be held this year from 12 to 15 January at the Glendower Golf Club in Johannesburg.
Big names like Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy will be seen in action.
Rugby
The 2016/17 World Rugby Sevens Series was also interrupted by the December holidays, but the first tournament in 2017 will be played in January.
The New Zealand leg of the series takes place at the Westpac stadium in Wellington on 28 and 29 January.
Netball
Netball lovers have a feast to look forward to in the New Year, when the world’s top netball teams arrive in Durban late January for the next phase of the Quad Series, involving Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa.
It was announced earlier this year that the four countries had joined forces in a ground-breaking partnership to be known as the Quad Series nicknamed Sanzea.
The aim of the partnership is to provide the four teams with the opportunity to play high-level international netball outside of the regular World Cup and Commonwealth Games competitions.
The inaugural event was played in New Zealand and Australia, with the competition moving to South Africa and England early in 2017.
Three matches will be played at Durban’s International Convention Centre on Saturday 28 January and Tuesday 31 January.
On Saturday, the opening match is between the Australian Diamonds and the New Zealand Silver Ferns – a mouth-watering encounter between the two giants of world netball.
This will be followed by the match between the SPAR Proteas and the English Roses in a much anticipated battle of the flowers.
The final match, on 31 January, is between the Proteas and Australia.
Soccer
The 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, will take place in Gabon in January.
The 2017 African champion will automatically qualify for the 2017 Fifa Confederations Cup in Russia later this year.
Although Bafana Bafana did not qualify for this tournament, all the attention of soccer lovers in the country will be focused on the progress of the games in Gabon.
No other big local soccer matches are scheduled for January.
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