After all the nice things we’ve said about Durban, they go and mess up the Banana City anyway. It cannot be more than a year since this column responded to outrage from some of the city’s more illustrious and intellectually grounded citizens and said some nice things about South Africa’s would-be Big Easy.
Andy Roddick and Sjeng Schalken share a bond that goes beyond tennis. Two months ago, Roddick helped Schalken escape from a hotel fire in Rome that killed three people. Now their paths are crossing again — in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Roddick advanced to the final eight with a win on Monday.
Jonny Shuping, a small South African schoolboy from Klerksdorp who will only turn 20 in September, recorded the biggest win so far of his career when he won the 800m at the 56th Venezelia International Athletics meeting in Chania, Greece, on Monday with a time of one minute and 47,31 seconds.
The Sharks have pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat at the eleventh hour with the arrival of Free State flyhalf Conrad Barnard in Durban to do service for the Sharks for the rest of the Absa Currie Cup this season. Butch James has been ruled out for the remainder of the year with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Janus Robberts, the 25-year-old South African shot-putter, provided one of the top performances at the 11th Josef Odlozil Memorial athletics meeting in Prague on Monday with an excellent winning distance of 21,24m. Also, Llewellyn Herbert, the South African record holder in the 400m hurdles, easily won his speciality.
South Africa’s Andre Watson will referee his last rugby Test when he officiates in Saturday’s encounter between Australia and the Pacific Island Warriors in Adelaide. Watson (46), the only man to have refereed two World Cup finals, will quit after his 28th international in control.
I once bought a beautifully preserved second-hand 2,5-litre Rover from a family connection. Its age and my poverty soon disproved the bargain — ”classic cars” and deep pockets go together, like leeks and potatoes. The previous owner had merely disposed of a problem. I think of that car when I contemplate some black economic empowerment (BEE) deals, reflects Reg Rumney.
In a huge boost for new coach Rafael Benitez, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard on Monday ended speculation about a possible transfer by confirming that he will stay at Anfield. Gerrard, who signed a new four-year deal with Liverpool in November last year, had been strongly linked with a switch to Chelsea during Euro 2004.
World champion Michael Schumacher said on Monday that the formula-one season has so far gone better than in his wildest dreams with eight wins in nine races and another milestone in the sport. ”Not in my wildest dreams had I expected such a season,” Schumacher said on his website.
Two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams of the United States moved into the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Tuesday with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 win over French teenager Tatiana Golovin. Williams will now face either old rival and compatriot Jennifer Capriati or Russia’s Nadia Petrova for a place in the semifinals.