OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kuala Lumpur | Thursday 10.00am.
BRENDON Dedekind has won South Africa’s first medal for swimming in the Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur. He picked up silver in the 50m freestyle, in 22,70 to touch just behind Mark Foster of England who set a Commonwealth record of 22,58. Multiple World Championship medal winner Michael Klim of Australia was third in 22,86.
The race — swimming’s equivalent of the 100m sprint — began with a false start, but this didn’t affect the South African’s determination to win a medal. Dedekind and Foster were in front from the start, with the Englishman having a finger-length advantage at the end. However, Dedekind said afterwards that he wasn’t happy with his time, which was “way below my best — 22,54 seconds”.
Roland Schoeman, who deposed Dedekind as national 100m freestyle record holder on Monday, was sixth in 23,11.
In answer to critics of SA’s low meadal count, Dedekind said: “Somebody doesn’t realise what we are doing here. We may not be winning medals, but we’ve been swimming good times. We’ve got really tough opposition here.”
Lorna Trigwell’s lawn bolws fours side successfully defended their Commonwealth title with a nailbiting 17-16 win over Australia to add another gold to the South African medals tally.
Arnaud Malherbe was the sole South African 400m semifinalist on Wednesday as bitterly disappointed Hendrik Mokganyetsi and a struggling Riaan Botha were knocked out in second-round heats.
Malherbe found a spurt of speed in his final 200m to clock 45,71 seconds, ahead of Kenyan Kennedy Ochieng (45,53) and England’s Mark Richardson (45,54).
Lightweight boxer Elvis Makama failed in his medal bid, losing his 60kg quarterfinal bout against Mauritian Giovanni Frontin in a dodgy points decision. Said a disappointed Makama: “I know I beat him. I had him from the first round, and never dropped my guard. I was never in any trouble against him and caught him with a few good punches.”
African boxers at the Games are voicing concern at the quality of judging, after earlier dubious decisions. The day before Makama’s defeat, bantamweight teammate Silence Mabuza went down in an unbelievable points verdict. Earlier in the week, Ghanaian boxer Abdulai Amidu lost 16-15 to South African Phumzile Mathyila. The Ghanaians protested twice, but were overruled both times.
The controversial decisions against African boxers recall the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where cash allegedly changed hands before certain bouts to ensure medals.
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