Sports

By: Lerato Mutlanyane

The Royal Family Cathedral church in Bloemfontein led by Dr Masekwane Masekwane is part of an initiative aimed at preventing youth from engaging in criminal activities and substance abuse. Masekwane and his team started “The N1 60 KM Marathon send-offs” which took place on Saturday, June 7 to fill the void for those who were unable to attend the Comrades Marathon. “As thousands of South Africans apply for the Annual Comrades Marathon, not all applicants can participate in the marathon due to the financial constraints it comes with,” “This specific marathon is coordinated for participants to run from Brandford to Bloemfontein. He says the marathon was also an awareness tool against the rapidly increasing gender based violence statistics in the province. “It aims to promote more recreational activities for the youth” Masekwane and his team offered great support to the participants throughout the mara thon until completion. The winners are Christmas Qhali (26) in first place and Xolile Baartman (25) in second place.

It was a pretty even day at the office for South Africa and Australia after day one of the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in London. Led by seamer Kagiso Rabada, the Proteas bundled out the Australians for 212 in their first innings, just after the tea break. The Aussie bowlers however fought back the final session. They took four top order wickets, leaving South Africa 169 runs behind on 43 for the loss of four wickets, at stumps.

Captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and under cloudy skies opted to bowl first and South Africa’s seamers and slip cordon obliged. The spear hard of the Proteas bowling attack, Kagiso Rabada got proceedings underway with two scalps in the seventh over. He dismissed Usman Khawaja for a 20-ball duck and then Cameron Green for four leaving the Australians in some early trouble on 16 for two.

Marco Jansen picked up the mantle at the other end. He accounted for Marnus Labuschagne for 17. And he ensured that South Africa went into the break with the upper hand. He dispatched Travis Head for 11 on the cusp of lunch and the Aussies slumped to 67 for four.

Australia’s batsmen staged somewhat of a fightback in the second session. Steve Smith and Beau Webster shared in a 79-run fifth wicket stand with Smith scoring a half century. The Proteas did counterpunch with the wicket of Smith for 66 but Webster continued to score freely. He too notched up a half-century, his second in Test cricket as Australia was coasting on 190 for the loss of five wickets at tea-time.

The wheels seem to come off for the defending champions after the interval. In a dramatic collapse, they lost their last five wickets for the addition of just 22 runs. Rabada again found himself on the honours board at Lord’s with his 17th five wicket haul in Test cricket, with figures of 51 for five.

And with 332 wickets, the quick has now past Allan Donald, up to fourth on South Africa’s all-time wicket-takers list in the longest format of the game. Seamer Mitchell Starc also hit his straps in the final session.

Starc dispatched both the Proteas openers Aiden Markram for a duck in the first over of the innings. He followed up a little later with the scalp of Ryan Rickelton for 16, leaving the South Africans in some bother on 19 for two.

Skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood also took a wicket a piece in the dying overs, as the Proteas ended the day on 43 for four, trailing by 169 runs.

*This article was first published by SABC News

Tladi Moloi

BLOEMFONTEIN. - South Africa has revived their hope of qualifying to the semi-finals of the Hollywood Cosafa Cup 2025 after they beat Zimbabwe by 2-0 at the Toyota stadium on Saturday.

Kabelo Dlamini and Ime Okon scored the two goals for the host. Unlike their first game against Mozambique where they lost 1-0, the yellow and green boys showed hunger and determination to win the game.

From the first whistle, they kept piling more premier and numbers forward in search of an early goal.  Bafana got a penalty when Masindi Nemtajela was brought down in the box nine minutes before the interval.

Dlamini stood up and coolly converted from a spot kick, sending the keeper the wrong way. Knowing that they might need goals to top the group depending on the final game in the group, the Vela Khumalo troops pushed for the second goal which they got when Okon secured three points for the home team when he headed home a second goal from a set piece in the 78 minutes, 2-0.

As things stand Mozambique are at the helm of Group A with four points after two games. They played to a goalless draw against Comoros who have collected two points this far.

Bafana Bafana are second with three points after the same number of games. In order for them to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament, they need to beat Comoros and hope Zimbabwe do them a favour by beating Mozambique or hold them to a draw. However, a scoring draw will mean that South Africa will have to score more goals in their last game.

The two games will play simultaneously on Tuesday, 10 June. South Africa and Comoros games will be played at Dr Molema stadium while Zimbabwe and Mozambique will be staged at the Toyota stadium. Kick-off is at 15:00.

Khumalo said a win was a boost that they needed after a disappointing start. “Most definitely this is the booster that we needed. However, we still hopeful and we still saying Mozambique if they win against Zimbabwe then what. But what we said to ourselves is that we need to win the remaining game. We need to win against Mauritius and then we take it from there. We will have six points and see what happens in the other game,” he said.  

Gerda Steyn further entrenched her legacy as a legend of the Comrades Marathon on Sunday, with her fourth victory in the grueling ultra-marathon between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

Steyn crossed the line in five hours 51 minutes and 19 seconds, over four minutes ahead of Alexandra Morozova in second (5:55:56).

Completing the women’s podium was Shelmisth Muriuki in 6:07:56.

The wily ultra star Steyn went out at a steady pace, content to let Elizabeth Mukoloma lead the way in the early stages of the race.

Note: Gerda Steyn delivered a dominant performance to win the 2025 Comrades Marathon women’s race, securing her place among the all-time greats of South African distance running.

Gerda Steyn makes her move

Just over the two hour 20 minute mark, Elizabeth Mukoloma had opened up a major gap over Steyn as she went out at a blistering pace. If she had been able to maintain that pace it would have smashed the down run record, therefore it was just a matter of time before she would be caught and passed.

At the 2h42 mark, Steyn finally caught Mukoloma as she took the lead in emphatic style on the descent down to Drummond on a steep downhill. The only thing Mukoloma could do was watch as Steyn quickly became a tiny figure in the distance.

The top-10 runners in each race will sleep soundly not just from exhaustion but also from the knowledge of their bank balance receiving a significant boost.

Long gone are the days when record nine-time champion Bruce Fordyce won the race purely for prize and not a single cent in prize money.

Fordyce’s last win in the gruelling ultra-marathon took place in 1990, and five years later prize money was first introduced.

This year, both the men’s and women’s top-10 finishers will also receive the same payouts:

1st place - R875,000

2nd place - R438,000

3rd place - R315,000

4th place - R158,000

5th place - R123,000

6th place - R71,000

7th place - R62,000

8th place - R54,000

9th place - R45,000

10th place - R36,000

Gerda Steyn delivered a dominant performance to win the 2025 Comrades Marathon women’s race, securing her place among the all-time greats of South African distance running.

*This article was first published by IOL News