Hendry has a true love for Cue Sport

SECUNDA – Growing up, playing provincial rugby was a dream come true for Mr Hendry Erasmus, co-owner of Pandas Cue Sport at Lake Umuzi.

This dream was shattered when he sustained an injury to his sternum which resulted in the end his rugby career.

Mr Erasmus then joined a cue club in the Cape, where he won his first competition on his first attempt.

From there he become more involved with bigger leagues and tournaments, the first being the Boland provincial trials in 2004.

Playing cue sport is in Mr Erasmus and his family’s blood, him being the only one to play in leagues.

In 2006 Mr Erasmus joined hands with Mr Chris Dedireks and Mr Herman Ras in an organisation called YADAC (Youth against drugs and crime).

“For the youth, it was playing for survival compared to others who had a love for the sport. The youth would play matches against each other for money in order to buy food.

“This is where I saw the gap. With my Uno Mia, we would fit up to 13 people in the vehicle to go to a tournament. That year I led the team to a second place in the national championships,” said Mr Hendry Erasmus.

Soon he made a way for schools to be a part of the leagues. He had seven schools participating weekly in school leagues in Helderberg.

“Unfortunately, business led me to Gauteng. It was disappointing because I never saw any of those youngsters carry on,” said Mr Erasmus.

From 2007 to 2009 Mr Erasmus played for Eastern Gauteng.

“This was a powerhouse province where I learnt how to eat and breathe like a champion, working with young talent like Ishmael Mthetwha. Our U/23 Eastern Gauteng team won the nationals.”

Due to work again, Mr Erasmus was relocated to Bethal, where he took over the youth sector of Mpumalanga.

“In 2010 we played the national championships, but we did not do well at all. The only way we could make people recognise us, was to purchase players from other provinces.

“By 2011, I created a master product and we took every single title that was available in the men’s U/18 and U/23 categories.”

Since then, Mr Erasmus had been managing and given people the chance to be a part of cue sport. Mr Erasmus then went into construction and studied further. He did well in construction but in 2016 Mr Erasmus felt his true calling was with cue sport.

Although Mr Erasmus can not choose which tournament was his favorite and most memorable, the one which stood out would be this year’s Rhino Cup.

“I designed the tournament and came up with the idea based on the Amercian Mosconi Cup, which is the largest viewed event in the world of cue sport. Although I have played every single from 2004 to 2018 in the national championships, this year and last year I focused more on the players,” said Mr Erasmus.

In 2017 Mr Erasmus opened Pandas Cue Sport with Mr Timothy Vermeulen. Beginning with four cue tables, a lot has been achieved up until now.

With a bigger facility, 140 members and 34 cue tables, Mr Erasmus and Mr Rees Naidoo of Sasol Darts Club, saw the need for the sport of darts to expand. Today, the club has 16 boards with about 30 registered players in the Gert Sibande District.

Pandas has two live streaming arenas which are used during tournaments.

Mr Erasmus is in the process of building another arena with pavilions where the public can sit and enjoy matches played live, as well as live streamed from across the world.

The public will also be introduced to an actual robot “I-Pool” that can teach pool on different levels.

“My dream was always to own a sports center and to breed South African champions. I want to see Pandas become a franchise in South Africa. I want to take cue sport to the next level,” ended Mr Erasmus.