Thato Letsoso and Ruswahl Samaai win big at UJ’s sports awards
AUCKLAND PARK – UJ recognises top sports stars for this year.
Banyana Banyana soccer star Thato Letsoso and national long jump ace Ruswahl Samaai scoop up top UJ sports awards.
It’s that time of the year when universities celebrate their sports stars.
The University of Johannesburg is no different as they recently hosted their sports awards at the Randpark Golf Club.
For the third year in a row, Ruswahl Samaai won Sportsman of the Year while Banyana Banyana soccer star Thato Letsoso walked away with the Sportswoman of the Year award.
Samaai’s award comes after a year of intense competition and a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games hosted in Australia early in the year.
He also represented UJ at the IAAF Diamond League finals in Switzerland where he finished second overall.
One of Samaai’s most memorable performance came at the African Championships hosted in Asaba, Nigeria. He walked away with the gold medal for his jump of 8,45m. This jump was just four centimetres short of his personal best of 8,49m.
Letsoso had a stellar season on the soccer field, which included her being part of the national squad that won the Cosafa Cup in Port Elizabeth in September.
The 22-year-old sports psychology student was an integral part of UJ’s soccer team this season. She captained UJ to first place at the University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament.
She was then appointed as captain of the USSA team to compete in the Confederation of University and College Sports Association Games in Botswana in July.
Another top award given on the night was handed to rugby star Wian Conradie.
He was given the student-athlete award which covers academic achievement and sporting excellence.
Conradie is a fourth-year quantity surveying student and averaged 79,2 per cent for his academics.
He had a prolific rugby season, he helped the UJ team reach third place in this year’s Varsity Cup and also represented the national Namibian team. His efforts went a long way in helping Namibia in qualifying for next year’s Rugby World Cup.
