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27 September 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Tania Allen
Netball
The Kovsies will face the Maties in the semi-finals of Varsity Netball in search of their fourth appearance in a final.

On Monday (30 September), the University of the Free State (UFS) netball team will have an ideal opportunity for revenge for what happened in this year’s Varsity Cup. In the semi-finals of the Varsity Cup back in April, the Shimla rugby team received a decent hiding from the Maties.

Now the UFS and Maties will face each other in another semi-final, this time in the netball version of the Varsity Cup, called Varsity Netball. The teams square off in the Callie Human Centre at 17:00.

Since losing to Tuks in the opening round, Kovsies have built up good momentum and confidence with six consecutive victories, including one over the Stellenbosch students on Monday (23 September). The score was 65-61.

The other wins were against UJ (69-35), TUT (64-20), NWU (59-55), Madibaz (70-41), and UWC (99-18), earning them the second spot on the log behind Tuks. The 99 goals against UWC were their best ever in the competition.The Free State women also won their encounter against Maties at this year’s USSA tournament by 38-31.

A victory would earn the team a shot at another Varsity Netball title. They have never lost a final, having appeared in three previous finals (2013, 2014, and 2018). Kovsies have won three of their previous five Varsity Netball semi-finals. They had met Maties only once before in a semi-final. This was last year in Bloemfontein when Kovsies prevailed by 56-45.
Khomotso Mamburu, goal defence of Maties, and Adéle Niemand, their assistant coach, both represented the Kovsies for many years.

News Archive

Wayde van Niekerk conquers Stockholm
2014-06-05

Wherever Kovsie athlete Wayde van Niekerk goes, a trophy seems to follow. This time, Van Niekerk vanquished the rest of the track in Stockholm, Sweden. He won the 200 m for men at the Sollentuna Grand Prix athletics meeting in a time of 20.53 seconds.

This victory closely follows Van Niekerk’s smashing the record in the men's 400m sprint. A record that went unbeaten for 15 years. He re-wrote this piece of history while competing at the Diamond League in New York. Van Niekerk now sets the new SA record at 44.38 seconds. He placed second over-all in the New York race.

In the past six months alone, he has already featured in the SA Student Championships in the 200 m, U/23 National Championships and the Senior Men's National 400 m Championships. He has also participated in the World Junior Championship in Canada and the World Championships in Russia.

At this stage, Van Niekerk is looking forward to the SA National Finals later this year and hopes to break the SA record – which forms part of his journey to Brazil in 2016.

"No success story is easy. One has to keep pushing harder and be the best they can be on and off the track. Never give up, because you are an inspiration," he encourages young athletes.

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