Olympic star athlete joins Titans Ladies for new cricket season
One of South Africa's top women athletes has moved her athletics career to the background for the time being and wants to focus in the near future on getting her once promising cricket career back on track.
South Africans know her well as a javelin athlete, who made her mark in the world of athletics with a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games, as well as several championship titles at the Commonwealth Games and the African Athletics Championships.
A lesser-known fact, however, is that Sunette Viljoen was already a top cricketer long before her athletics career has started to gain momentum.
She already made her international debut as a 17-year-old schoolgirl from Rustenburg in 2000 for the Proteas Women’s team in a One-Day International Match (ODI) against England.
Before Viljoen started focusing on her athletics career, she played in 17 OD’s and one Test match for the Proteas Women’s team.
Photo: Facebook
Now, at the age of 38, Viljoen is back on the cricket field, to resume her career in the sport she calls her “first love”.
The Titans Ladies announced last week that Viljoen has joined their group for the new season and that she is back with a bang as a cricketer.
Viljoen is now looking to share her extensive knowledge and experience with the Titans Ladies.
“There is a genuine buzz in the ladies squad at the moment. We all know what Sunette has achieved already, and to be able to tap into that incredible work ethic and mental strength is going to be a huge boost for our squad,” Titans Cricket Services Manager Charlotte Serwadi said.
BREAKING NEWS: We are pleased to announce that Olympic silver medalist and Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Sunette Viljoen-Louw has joined Titans Ladies.
Welcome Sunette💙#DaisyLadies | #SkyBlues pic.twitter.com/wEBLreUQDN
— Fidelity Ladies (@titans_ladies) December 2, 2021
When Viljoen, a product of Hoërskool Rustenburg, made her debut for the Momentum Proteas back in 2000, he was – at that time – the youngest ever to represent her country.
She played in the 2000 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, where her all-round abilities stood her in good stead.
In her international career, Viljoen scored 198 runs in 17 matches, with a top score of 54, while also taking five wickets as a bowler. Her best bowling analysis was 3/27. In her only Test, she played a magnificent innings of 88 as a batsman.
Now Viljoen will go back to the game that she showed so much potential in at a young age, taking her sporting career full circle.
As with everything that she has done since her extended break from the game, there is little doubt that she will throw her full weight into this next adventure on the cricket field.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
