2017, the sports year that was (July to December highlights)

This is Benoni’s 2017 sports year in review (from July to December).

2017, the sports year that was (January to June highlights)

July

• Eastern Gauteng Action Cricket’s u-13, u-15 and u-19 teams all won gold as they cleaned up at the junior Inter-provincial Tournament (IPTs) in Pietermaritzburg from Saturday, July 1 to July 9.

• Chané de Meyer, a Grade Eight pupil from Hoërskool Brandwag, was crowned South African Duathlon Champion after winning the South African Duathlon Championships held on July 2 at Midmar Dam in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

• Lakefield’s Zafar Hoosen enjoyed a thrilling debut on the Port Elizabeth superbike drag racing scene at the first and second rounds of the national series at the Aldo Scribante Circuit. Hoosen proved why he has become “King of the Quarter-mile” as he obliterated the record time at the PE Raceway with a personal best time of 8.821 seconds, reaching a top speed of 254.2km/h.

• Former Benoni High School learner Laura Strugnell, represented South Africa in synchronised swimming for a fourth time at the 17th Fina World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in July alongside duet partner Emma Manners-Wood.

• Rynfield resident and tennis legend Helen Barrett coached and captained the South African u-14 girls’ team at the 2017 African Junior Team Championships and International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) Junior Circuit Tournament in Tunisia.

• Morehill resident and Ebotse Links’ pride and joy Jayden Schaper (16) captured his third Sunshine Tour Junior Series title of the season in wire-to-wire style in the Dimension Data Junior Open at Fancourt’s Montagu Course on Friday, July 7. He then went on to make South African golf history by becoming the first South African junior golfer to win all four Nomads South Africa Boys’ titles. He won the u-13 championship (2012), the u-15 title (2016) and the rare double when he lifted both the Nomads SA Boys u-19 Stroke Play and Match Play Championship titles in July. On July 21 he added more success when he navigated Pretoria Country Club in 10-under-par 62 to defend his 2016 Tshwane Junior Open title with an 11-stroke margin.

• The Gauteng Canoe Marathon Championships were held at the Ekurhuleni Kayak Club (ERK) at Homestead Dam on July 22 and July 23. There the Gauteng team was selected to represent the province at the South African Marathon Championships, in August, ahead of the 2017 World Marathon Canoe Championships which took place in Pietermaritzburg in the first week of September.

• The younger of Benoni’s football-playing Gordinho brothers, Anthony made a transfer from SuperSport United to 2016/2017 Premier Soccer League champions Bidvest Wits.

• Benoni Northerns Junior Hockey club’s (BNJH) popular junior hockey tournament took place on the morning of July 29 and was, once again, a roaring success with well over 900 children between the ages of five and 13 registered for and playing at the event.

August

• With over 30 years of service to The Lake Club Benoni, golf director and club professional Rob van Velzen moved on to pastures new. He now heads up the driving range at Benoni Country Club (BCC), where manages the club’s juniors and teaches golf from beginner to elite level.

• Benoni Northerns Football Club’s (BNFC) u-20 A team were recently crowned the Eastern Local Football Association (ELFA) Colts League Division One champions for 2017.

• The South African Masters Hockey Association’s 2017 National Masters Tournament and it came to Benoni and Ekurhuleni from August 9 to 12. It is the largest field hockey events in the country in terms of the number of participants, with almost 70 teams and over 1 200 players and officials from around the country welcomed to the “Far East”.

• The 2017 South African Women’s Snooker Championships were played from August 9 to August 12 at The Matchroom at 116 Pretoria Road, Rynfield. Central Gauteng player Nicola Rossouw claimed the prestigious ‘Triple’ by winning the singles, South African Classic and South African Six Reds tournaments.

• SuperSport United striker and former Benoni High School learner Bradley Grobler got himself back in the Bafana Bafana mix after a long injury lay-off. Grobler was called up to the squad on Monday, August 21 for the back-to-back 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Cape Verde.

• The pinnacle of Pool A was not to be for Easterns after they lost two of the three matches in the Africa T20 Cup at their Sahara Park Willowmoore home to finish third.

September 

• The fresh Bapsfontein parkrun was launched on the morning of September 2 on the farm Doringdraad in Tweefontein. Comrades Marathon legend and founder of the parkrun concept in South Africa, Bruce Fordyce, attended and ran the new route, along with his wife Gill. 498 runners were timed at the event.

• The senior national women’s football team Banyana Banyana prepared for the Cosafa Women’s Championship in Zimbabwe in September with training sessions at Benoni Northerns Sports Club.

• International junior tennis was staged at the Gauteng East Tennis Complex in Lakefield, as part of the efforts of the International Club of South Africa (IC SA), with the African Challenge at the Gauteng East Tennis Complex.

• Benoni’s football-loving fraternity flocked to the Old Benonians Sports Club for the second league Benoni football derby of the season, played between Benoni Northerns (BNFC) and Old Bens football clubs on Saturday, September 9. The reserve team derby ended 2-2 while the first team derby ended 1-1.

• Benoni Harriers Athletic Club (BHAC), Viking Cycling Club and various sponsors hosted the inaugural ‘Colourful Run 2017’ from Old Benonians Sports Club in aid of Kids Haven on the morning of Sunday, September 10.

• The 2017 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League Division Five tournament, played at Sahara Park Willowmoore came to an end on Saturday, September 9. The English Channel island of Jersey finished top of the pile with a 120-run victory over the South Pacific Ocean island of Vanuata in Saturday’s final on the main oval. Both teams were promoted to Division Four for 2018.

• Pretoria golfer Ruan Korb closed out a wire-to-wire victory in the Ebotse Challenge on September 13 and collected his first silverware on the IGT Challenge Tour in fine style at Ebotse Links.

• The three-day warm-up match, played between the touring Bangladesh against a Cricket South Africa (CSA) Invitation XI, at Sahara Park Willowmoore from September 21 to September 23, ended in a draw.

October

• Benoni Small Farms resident and equestrian extraordinaire Nicola Sime-Riley leapt to victory on her powerful grey horse, Sunny Parks Elpaso, at the 52nd Cell C South African Derby at Kyalami Equestrian Park on October 1 in the afternoon’s main showjumping event.

• Rachel Howard took over the reins as the new golf director at The Lake Club Benoni, replacing Rob van Velzen.

• Jayden Schaper was again part of golf history. He represented the International Team against the USA in the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup in New Jersey.

• The VIP Boxing and Fitness Gym, at the Indoor Sports World in Malherbe Street, was officially opened on September 30 with the White Collar Boxing ‘After Dark’ event with 10 fights on the card.

• Local karateka Christopher Anthony (27) went all the way to the final of the Karatenomichi World Federation (KWF) World Cup in Malta where he won gold in the open senior men’s kumite (fighting) category to become a world champion.

• A defiant half-century by the Warriors’ Yaseen Vallie followed by some bad light and heavy rain helped the Eastern Cape team escape with a draw from their four-day Sunfoil Series clash against the Multiply Titans at Sahara Park Willowmoore on October 10.

• Lakefied resident Jim McFarlane produced tremendous, tyre-shredding displays this year in his Achilles Tyres 350Z Nissan in the national SupaDrift Series to claim the ultimate prize of 2017 SupaDrift Series champion.

• Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the postponement of the T20 Global League, of which the Benoni Zalmi franchise would have played in November, to 2018. The franchise and the Eastern Cricket Union said in a statement that they respected CSA’s decision to postpone the event. The Ram Slam T20 was moved up on the domestic calendar to accommodate the postponement.

• Twenty-two Benoni Northerns Athletic Club (BNAC) members (eight novices) turned up at the start of the 11Global Sun City triathlon to test themselves and embrace a new challenge at the North West resort. Four BNAC members (Claudie Else, Mark Dingle, Lauren Fisher and Alan Argall) found themselves on the podium at Sun City after Sunday’s Olympic distance event comprising a 1.5km dam swim, 40km cycle and 10km run.

• Kleinfontein Bowling Club celebrated its 100th birthday with a two-day celebration on October 14 and 15. About 96 bowlers attended the centenary celebration at the Mackenzie Park premises.

• Ebotse Links’ Handicap League team won the Ekurhuleni Golf Union Handicap League against State Mines Country Club on October 21.

• Former Arbor Primary School learner and Benoni Northerns Junior Hockey Club Jethro Eustice fired home a drag flick to give the South African men’s national hockey team a tremendous 2-1 win at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia, Egypt on October 29 to book the golden ticket to the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India.

November 

• The biggest contingent of Benoni Harriers Athletic Club junior and seniors (80 members) at a race in the club’s 111-year history took part in the Garbie Relay in Springs.

• Former Kids Haven resident Bokang ‘Little Giant’ Masunyane defeated his flyweight opponent, Brazil’s Magno Alves, with a devastating display of all round MMA at EFC 65 at Carnival City on November 4.

• Matthew Wilson, a Grade Seven pupil at Rynfield Primary School, had a terrific season on his off-road bike. He won the Gauteng Xcross Country Club (GXCC) Off-road Championship for the fifth year in a row, theNorthern Regions Championship and tied for first place at the National Enduro Weekend in Matatiele in the 85cc class.

• Former Hoërskool Brandwag learner Ruhan Nel enjoyed an incredible year with a triple victory of sevens and 15s rugby titles. In June, Nel and the Blitzboks achieved world domination when they won World Rugby’s 2016/2017 Sevens Series. In July, he proved to be a valuable player in 15-a-side rugby for Western Province, helping them to an inaugural SuperSport Challenge victory with a win in the final over his former team, The Griquas. On
October 28, Nel capped off a remarkable campaign with Province after winning the Currie Cup in the final against the Sharks at Kings Park Stadium in Durban.

• The annual Rowlin National Brokers Glow Run, organised by Benoni Northerns Athletic Club (BNAC), saw over 2 100 runners turn out to run the Benoni streets on the night of Wednesday, November 1. Siyabonga Mabena (temporary license) fleet-footed his way around the Rynfield suburb to finish and win the 15km in a time of exactly 49 minutes. Olifantsfontein runner Batji Makoma was the first woman runner home in the 15km race in a time of one hour, four minutes and 37 seconds.

• Hannah van Niekerk (12), a pony rider at Sunny Park Equestrian Club in Benoni Small Farms, was selected as one of 16 athletes that competed at the 2017 FEI Children’s International Classics Final in Beijing, China from December 28 to January 1.

• The prestigious award of Benoni Northerns Sports Club’s 2017 Senior Sportsperson of the Year was presented to Lynne Semple, a remarkable Comrades athlete, who has completed the race 18 times with a best time of eight hours and five minutes. The junior award was presented to football player Michael Juanas-Uriol.

• Rynfield resident Slade Smith took second place overall in the South African National Motocross Championship at the Terratopia Circuit in Randburg for the year, and now has his sights on the 250cc MX2 class for next year.

• Not a single delivery was bowled in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge match between the log-leading Multiply Titans and the Hollywoodbets Dolphins at Sahara Park Willowmoore on November 24.

• The Ekurhuleni Golf Union (EGU) held its 2017 EGU Awards at the Benoni Country Club (BCC) on November 24. The host club scooped the prestigious awards of Best Course Superintendent/Greenkeeper in Ekurhuleni, Club CEO of the Year and Best Ekurhuleni Golf Course for 2017.

December

• The Warriors lost by 56 runs win via the Duckworth-Lewis Method against the Multiply Titans at Sahara Park Willowmoore in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge on December 1. Protea star AB De Villiers hit 48 runs from 19 deliveries in the match.

• Benoni’s road running legend Frith van der Merwe, who still holds the Comrades Marathon women’s down run record (with a time of 5:54:43 in 1989) and the Two Oceans women’s 56km record time of 3:30:36 (also in 1989), added another milestone to her glittering resume on Saturday morning, December 2 by finishing her 50th parkrun at the Ebotse parkrun.

• Ekurhuleni Junior Golf recognised all its juniors’ accomplishments for 2017 at a prize-giving function at Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate on December 3. Ebotse Links’ talent Jayden Schaper was announced as the Ekurhuleni Junior Golf Player of the Year.

• Rynfield resident Deon van Vuuren notched up a major achievement on December 2 when he won the Motorsport South Africa (MSA) approved Midas Historic Saloon Car Championship in the competitive F-Class by a mere two points in the final race of the regional championship at Kyalami in his Ford Escort Mk 1.

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