After five days of intense competition, South Africa is leading the All Africa Games medal tally with 46 medals.
Swimmers have contributed the largest piece of the pie, with 32 medals.
Sprint canoeists did not let the swimmers outshine them on Wednesday, adding five medals to the South African total.
Nick Stubbs won the canoeists’ first medal of the Games, finishing second in the K1 1Â 000m.
Once the ice was broken, it was gold medals galore for the paddlers.
Calvin Mokoto won gold in the C1 1Â 000m final and Bridgitte Hartley was the first woman to win a medal, clinching the women’s K1 500m title.
Next up was the K2 1Â 000m duo of Gavin White and Pieter Basson. They finished first in their category with the women’s K2 500m duo of Tiffany Kruger and Bridgitte Hartley also claiming gold.
Proteas
Meanwhile, South Africa’s netball team marched on in their competition as they demolished Ghana 79-22.
The Proteas team steamrolled their opponents from the outset, scoring 19 goals to six by the Ghanaians in the first quarter.
However, it was only the beginning of the Proteas’ blitzkrieg and their lead increased in leaps-and-bounds.
In the second quarter, they stacked up another 13 points and pulled away from their challengers in earnest, scoring 22 goals in the third period.
In the final quarter they scored a mammoth 22 goals, while Ghana managed eight to make it the most expensive period of the game.
The Proteas are due to take on Zimbabwe on Thursday.
Baby Bafana
The under-23 men’s soccer team had a tough second match at the Games when they beat Ghana 1-0.
But they have now finished at the top of their group and will progress to next week’s semifinals.
The scores were level on 0-0, but in the 79th minute a Bongumusa Ntombela kick deflected off a Mozambican player, only for it to find its way into the back of the net.
Baby Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba said his side played too direct and they needed to work on their combinations if they wanted to advance to the final of the Games.
The team will have to wait for the result between Senegal and Cameroon on Sunday to find out who their opponents will be in the semifinal on Tuesday. — Sapa