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03 December 2018 | Story Ruan Bruwer
Janko Dreyer
Much will be expected from Kovsie opening batsmen Janko Dreyer at the University Sport South Africa tournament. He has been in great form recently.

The Kovsie Cricket team has enough motivation and are well aware of what’s at stake in the upcoming University Sport South Africa (USSA) championship that will be held in Stellenbosch from 3 to 7 December.

Kovsie Cricket are determined to secure a spot in next year’s Varsity Cricket tournament taking place in Potchefstroom in September, should they emerge as winners of Division B in the competition.

Scoring for the team

They will kick off with a clash against the Walter Sisulu University, followed by fixtures against the Tshwane University of Technology and Wits before the semi-finals on 6 December, with the final following on 7 December 2018.

A number of the Kovsie Cricket squad members have been on rich form with the bat lately. Opening batsman Janko Dreyer scored a century and two half-centuries in his last four innings for the Free State team in November.

Highly rated in SA

Batsmen Raynard van Tonder from the Kovsies Cricket team will feature as one of the most highly-rated young cricketers in the country. The captain of the South African U19 team smashed an unbeaten 250 runs for the Free State in the three-day provincial match last month. Likewise, Wihan Victor also scored a century for the Free State team in October.
More favourable news for the team is that Kovsie Cricket recently defeated the Central University of Technology with 185 runs.

The Kovsie Cricket squad consists of: Dilivio Ridgard, Nathan Roux, Sipho Mavanda, Wihan Victor, Sean Whitehead, Wizzard Ncedane, AJ van Wyk (captain), Nyiko Shikwambana, Jonathan Draai, Marno van Greuning, Beyers Swanepoel, Christo van Staden.

 

News Archive

NBC tells Wayde’s story
2015-11-02

   

The film crew from NBC Olympics
filming Wayde van Niekerk (centre, in grey clothes)
during a practice session at Pellies Park on the
Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS.
On the left is Ans Botha, Van Niekerk’s coach.
Photo: Charl Devenish

The Kovsie star Wayde van Niekerk stands an excellent chance of shining at the 2016 Olympics and has a remarkable story behind his success.

This is why NBC Olympics, a division of the American broadcasting network NBC, selected the athlete from the University of the Free State (UFS) to do a special insert for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

A film crew from NBC visited the City of Roses and the Bloemfontein Campus of the UFS on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 October 2015 to film the insert. The feature will be screened on NBC Olympics’ platforms during and leading up to the Olympics next year.

One of four stars

Van Niekerk was one of four athletes used by the crew to film inserts on. The others were the South African swimmer Chad le Clos, the Kenyan 800 m athlete David Rudisha, and Ethiopian middle- and long-distance athlete Genzebe Dibaba.

The crew interviewed Van Niekerk and his coach Ans Botha, and also paid a visit to Pellies Park during one of his training sessions.

According to Tom Davidson, feature producer at NBC Olympics, the piece about Van Niekerk will be about three minutes long.

“We do a pretty good job of picking good stories, but it is up to the athletes to get there,” Davidson said.

“We think Wayde has a good shot at being in the finals of the 400 m at the Olympics.”

Van Niekerk won a gold medal in a time of 43.48 s at the World Championships in Beijing during August 2015 and set a new South African record for a third time and a new African record for a second time this year in the process.

Beijing success propels Wayde onto NBC radar

“Wayde’s performance in Beijing certainly propelled him onto our radar,” said Davidson.

 “He beat former World and Olympic champions like Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt.”

He feels that Van Niekerk is also very young and still at university.

And Botha makes his story even more interesting.

“It is not every day that you see a 74-year old great-grandmother coaching a world champion.”



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