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10 December 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Supplied
Tennis
The members of the Kovsie tennis team are, from the left, front: Danique Reynders, Reze Opperman, Daniel de Villiers, Ester de Kock, Lienke de Kock, Anandhi Botha, and Janine de Kock (team manager); back: Marnus Kleinhans (coach), Heinrich Willemse, Emke Kruger, Arne Nel, Ryk Kleinhans, Handre Hoffman, and Ruben Kruger.

The country’s number one student team and South Africa’s second-best club. This is the bragging rights earned by the University of the Free State’s (UFS) tennis team after winning the 2019 University Sport South Africa (USSA) Tennis Championship. 

The Kovsie team claimed their ninth consecutive USSA title on Friday 6 December in Stellenbosch, winning all their matches. The team comprised both men and women – a combination which has been in place since 2010. Since 2010, there has been only one name on the USSA trophy, with the Kovsie team winning from 2010 to 2015 and again from 2017 to 2019. The competition was not hosted in 2016.   

In the 2019 USSA final against Maties, Kovsies was declared the winner, with the score 7-1 after completing seven singles matches and one doubles. A match consisted of four men’s singles, four women’s singles, two men’s doubles, two women’s doubles, and two mixed doubles. 

Arne Nel, Ruben Kruger, Handre Hoffman, Heinrich Willemse, Ester de Kock, and Reze Opperman all won their singles in straight sets. Kruger and Willemse combined for a win in the only doubles match.

On their road to victory, the team had wins over the North-West University (Mafikeng Campus), the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, and the University of Pretoria. The victory over the University of Pretoria in the semi-final was revenge for the Sun City University Championship in March, where they denied Kovsies a fourth consecutive crown in that competition.

Another feather in the cap for Kovsie tennis was that two team members, Willemse and Kruger, along with two management members – Marnus Kleinhans and Janine de Kock, respectively UFS tennis coach and team manager – were chosen for the South African team to the World Student Games in July. 

 



News Archive

UFS academic speaks on Islamic terrorism
2012-09-12

 
 Prof. Hussein Solomon

Senior Professor Hussein Solomon from the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State (UFS) says it is imperative that we understand how ordinary Muslims are socialised, violently radicalised and primed to engage in acts of terror.

He was speaking at the Inter Religion Forum in the Faculty of Theology on the topic, “The rise of Islamist fundamentalist thought”.

According to Prof. Solomon, “The war on terror is truly a struggle between competing ideologies, after all, before a suicide bomber detonates his/her vest he/she must be ideologically indoctrinated to believe that what he/she is doing is the ‘right’ thing both in terms of the act and target.” Prof. Hussein, however, assured that the pure teaching of Islamic is not in favour of terrorism and killing.

Most of the twentieth century witnessed an ideological struggle between freedom and democracy. According to Prof. Solomon, “democracy” won that struggle. “The ideological struggle between freedom and authoritarianism is, however, far from over and thus we witness a clash of two competing ideologies across the globe,” he said.

He added that this is not an inter-civilizational conflict. “It rather is occurring within Muslim societies and between radical Islamists and the West.”

“A major battle is taking place in Islam between moderates, who in my view are the real Muslims, and the Islamo-fascists. Non-Muslims cannot simply regard this battle as an internal struggle. They need to support the moderate Muslim actively.”

“Should moderate Muslims lose this struggle, a clash of civilisations will become inevitable and the future will resemble a world of a war of all against all,” Prof. Solomon said.
 

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