Tatjana Schoenmaker

South Africa’s swimming star Tatjana Schoenmaker has set a new Olympic record in posting the fastest time in the heats for the women’s 100m breaststroke. Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images

The South African weekend sports review: 2-4 August

This edition of the weekend sports review covers the highlights of the first sporting weekend in August.

Tatjana Schoenmaker

South Africa’s swimming star Tatjana Schoenmaker has set a new Olympic record in posting the fastest time in the heats for the women’s 100m breaststroke. Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images

The PSL resumed and the Currie Cup entered the fourth week of an abridged campaign over the weekend just past in South African sport.

Weekend Sports review – Friday

Stuart Baxter resigned as coach of Bafana Bafana.

Teenager Noxolo Cesane scored her first goal for South Africa as they came from a goal down to beat Malawi 3-1 in their Group A clash in the Cosafa Women’s Championship at a packed Wolfson Stadium, in Port Elizabeth.

Ruan Conradie cruised to his maiden Sunshine Tour victory with a final round six-under 66 in the Royal Swazi Sun Challenge at the Royal Swazi Spa Country Club.

South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker won her first Swimming World Cup gold medal as the series began at Tokyo’s Tatsumi International Swimming Center.

The Golden Lions stunned the Free State Cheetahs 24-22 in an entertaining Currie Cup encounter at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.

South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai stormed three shots clear at the AIG Women’s British Open with a flawless second round of 67 in front of nearly 16,000 people at Woburn Golf Club

Weekend Sports review – Saturday

The SA Football Association (Safa) appointed Molefi Ntseki as the interim coach of Bafana Bafana on Saturday.

Tatjana Schoenmaker claimed her second gold medal on day two of the Swimming World Cup in Tokyo on Saturday.

The Premier Soccer League on Saturday confirmed that no Premiership matches will be aired on the national broadcaster – the SA Broadcasting Corporation – over the opening weekend of the season.  The SABC responded by clarifying their reasons for refusing a deal with DSTV.

 A brace by Tafel Lager Griquas scrumhalf Zak Burger and a fine kicking display by flyhalf George Whitehead, who kicked three penalty goals and four conversions for a personal total of 17 points, paved the way for a 37-15 victory against the Vodacom Blue Bulls in Pretoria.

The win for the men from Kimberley marked their third victory in four games, while the defeat for the hosts left them at the foot of the log with one win in four outings. 

The Phakisa Pumas put in a spirited second-half performance as they caused one of the big upsets in the Currie Cup when they defeated the defending champion Cell C Sharks 27-20 in Nelspruit for their first win of the 2019 season.

Chippa United and Stellenbosch FC drew 0-0 in their opening match of the Premiership season played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

Mamelodi Sundowns beat SuperSport United 2-0 without having to build up too much of a sweat in the opening league fixture of the 2019/ 20 Premiership season at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.

Baroka FC showed character to salvage a point in playing to a 2-2 draw with Cape Town City in a Premiership match at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, in Polokwane.

Orlando Pirates made a strong start to the new league campaign with a 3-1 victory over a plucky Bloemfontein Celtic at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday evening.

Bidvest Wits made an early statement of intent with an impressive 3-0 league win over AmaZulu at the King Zwelithini Stadium.

Weekend Sports review – Sunday

There were two absorbing contests in the inaugural Cosafa Women’s Under-20 Championship as hosts South Africa sealed their place in the semifinals with a 1-0 victory over Namibia. Zimbabwe secured an emphatic 4-0 victory over Mozambique to get their campaign back on track and set up a winner-takes-all meeting with Namibia on Monday.

South Africa crashed out of the African Nations Championship (Chan) after a 3-0 defeat to Lesotho in a second-leg qualifying match played at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto on Sunday afternoon. Lesotho emerged victorious 6-2 on aggregate after winning the first leg 3-2 in Maseru last week.

Kaizer Chiefs secured a morale-boosting 3-2 win over Highlands Park in their opening league match of the season at a packed Makhulong Stadium.

Golden Arrows claimed a hard-fought 1-0 Premiership victory over KwaZulu-Natal rivals Maritzburg United at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Clermont.

Polokwane City made a winning start to their new league campaign as they beat Black Leopards 1-0 in a Premiership match in Thohoyandou.

Gauteng beat Western Cape 2-1 in the final of the Safa/SAB Under-21 League National Championship  in Mahikeng. 

Japan’s Hinako Shibuno holed an 18-foot birdie putt at the final hole to win a thrilling Women’s British Open at Woburn on Sunday. South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai ended four shots off the pace.

Additional reporting from ANA – African News Agency.