MARIESA POTGIETER
TuksSport had many highlights throughout 2019 from a variety of sports. Different sports showed that they are forces to be reckoned with and each athlete worked hard throughout the year to make successes of their sporting careers. With the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games being in the near future, 2019 was an important year for qualifications and preparations. The Varsity Cup tournaments and the USSA tournaments were also exciting tournaments for UP and many of our teams won or came close to winning.
A 2019 recap of TuksSport would not be possible without mentioning the excellent performances of TuksNetball. The Gauteng Jaguars started by winning the Telkom Netball League title in June. This was held at UP’s Rembrandt Hall and they won by beating the Western Cape Southern Stings in the final with a winning score of 53-38. This is the Gauteng Jaguars third consecutive Telkom Netball League title. TuksNetball then took the Varsity tournament by storm, being the first team to remain unbeaten throughout the whole tournament. In October, UP beat Maties 48-43 in the Varsity Netball tournament final to take their second Varsity Netball tournament win.
In 2019, TuksCricket celebrated a century of excellence. TuksCricket started off by winning the Northerns Premier league in March. Then in September, they won the Varsity Cricket championships and defended their title. The tournament was held in Potchefstroom and this was the fourth time in five years they have won this title. They won this title by defeating UJ in the final by eight wickets. They ended the year in November by winning the Red Bull Campus Cricket T20 tournament held in Dubai. This was the third time Assupol TuksCricket won this tournament, winning previously in 2014 and 2015. In the 2019 final, they won the final against the University of Karatsji, based in Pakistan.
The Delta Drone TuksRugby women’s sevens team did an outstanding job in 2019. Firstly, they came second in Spain’s Costa Blanca tournament, beating France in the semi-final in May. Secondly, the women won their fourth consecutive USSA women’s sevens title in September, beating the University of Fort Hare with 19-7. Thirdly, the women won the Varsity Cup sevens title in October by beating Fort Hare with an excellent score of 46-0.
In April, TuksRugby came close to winning the Varsity Cup final, making it all the way to the final to play against Maties in Stellenbosch, but unfortunately missing out on the big win. Even though TuksRugby didn’t win the title, they fought hard and successfully won silver in the Varsity Cup. The TuksRugby senior teams won all three Volcano Super League finals in September. Further highlights in September were when the men’s sevens rugby won the USSA tournament, beating UJ in the final with a lead of 7-5 which was played in Margate.
TuksAthletics saw a few promising stars rise out of the ranks. In March, UP came second overall in the Varsity Athletics tournament. In April, at the USSA championships in Stellenbosch, Jovan Van Vuuren won the long jump with a jump of 8.10m. He is only the 14th local athlete who broke through the eight metre barrier. UP was also second in the USSA tournament and they earned eight gold medals, eight silver medals and nine bronze medals. At the South African Athletics championships held in Germiston in April, Lindsay Hanekom won gold in the 400m-hurdles with a time of 48.01s. Further, Akani Simbine (100m), Clarence Munyai (200m) and Ruswahl Samaai (long jump) all finished in third place at the IAAF Diamond League Series in Shanghai, China. Other outstanding performances were when Tebogo Mamatu won the 100m at the Resisprintmeeting in La Chaux, Switzerland with a time of 11.04s. This was the second fastest time clocked by a South African female sprinter. At the World Student games in Napoli, Sokwakhana Zazini won silver in the men’s 400m-hurdles and Zeney Van der Walt won silver in the women’s 400m-hurdles. Many UP athletes qualified for the World Championships in Doha and competed well.
TuksSwimming athlete, Tatjana Schoenmaker, had another successful year. At the World Student Games in July held in Naples, Italy, she won the 100m-breaststroke and set a new African and South African record with a time of 1:06.23 which was 0.09 seconds faster than her previous time. Schoenmaker also won the 200m-breaststroke and she has qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Swimmer Kaylene Corbett also qualified for the Olympic Games after a good performance at these student games. Also in July, Schoenmaker won a silver medal at
the World Championships in Korea. After this, in August, she won two gold medals at the FINA Swimming World Cup Series in Tokyo. She won the 200m-breaststroke by setting a new World Cup record time of 2:22.35. With the help of Schoenmaker and Corbett, TuksSwimming won the 2019 USSA swimming championship in September. This was the second consecutive title after winning the championship in 2018. At the conclusion of this year, Schoenmaker deservedly won SA sports star of the year and the SA sportswoman of the year.
Other 2019 highlights from different sports include TuksRowing, TuksTennis, TuksArchery, TuksJudo and TuksChess. At the USSA Boat Race Regatta in Port Alfred, the TuksRowing men’s A-crew won their 11th consecutive race and this was a new USSA record. TuksRowing was also the overall USSA rowing champions. TuksTennis won this year’s Sun City South African Universities Tennis Tournament in April 2019. UP athletes Helga Jeske and Kyla Yelverton won the South African Beach Tennis Tournament at Badplaas. UP’s wheelchair tennis players also impressed in November when winning six international tournaments in 12 days. TuksArchery stood out in May when they won two gold medals at the Archery World Cup in Antalya. Dannelle Wentzel became the first South African archer to ever win an individual event at a World Cup, while Reuben Brent-Meek and Jeanine van Kradenburg won the compound mixed final. In April, Michaela Whitebooi won a gold medal during the African championships held in Cape Town. Further, Whitebooi medalled in August when she won a silver medal and the first medal for South Africa at the African Games. In September, TuksJudo became the USSA tournament champions for the fifth consecutive year at the event held in Port Elizabeth. They won ten gold medals and three silver medals at this tournament. Lastly, in November, UP judoka Unelle Snyman won a gold medal at the African Open Judo championship in Dakar.
In December, TuksChess won the USSA tournament held in Grahamstown and they were the overall champions for the third consecutive year. Both the men’s and women’s team won their categories and set new records with high overall points. UP claimed 35 of the 36 medals that were up for grabs at this tournament.
2019 was a year of successes for TuksSport. To be a part of 2020’s successes, consider joining a TuksSport team and becoming a part of the #StripeGeneration.
Photos: Instagram – @varsitynetball, @chantelle.swart, and @tukssport
