South Africa names team for Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia

South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) on Tuesday named a powerful team to represent the nation at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia for April 4^th to 15^th, 2018.

The Southern African country will do battle across 16 codes, including Para-sports athletics, lawn bowls, swimming, table tennis and powerlifting.

The sports are; athletics, badminton, bowls, boxing, cycling (mountain bike, road, track), gymnastics and hockey.

Others are; netball, rugby sevens, shooting, table tennis, triathlon, weightlifting and wrestling.

The men’s sevens rugby team will only be announced at the end of February.

Other team sports will see women’s rugby sevens, men’s and women’s hockey sides and the women’s netballers in action while there are also team disciplines in track cycling and triathlon.

The team includes Rio Olympics gold medallist track athlete, Caster Semenya, silver medallist swimmers Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos, field athletes Luvo Manyonga and Sunette Viljoen and bronze medallists Henri Schoeman (triathlon) and the men’s rugby sevens side.

Para-sport also features Rio Paralympics double gold medallist Charl du Toit and gold medallists, Hilton Langenhoven, Reinhardt Hamman and Dyan Buis.

The SASCOC President Gideon Sam said; “We’re very excited to deliver this team for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Many hours of planning have gone into preparing this team”.

‘Two years out from the Tokyo Olympics, these Games are a great platform to see where our sportsmen and women, both established and developing, are on the world stage.

‘You will see that it’s a great blend of experience and raw talent and I’m confident we’ll once again be right up there with the cream of Commonwealth countries and looking to improve on our seventh place on the medals table in Glasgow four years ago.

‘I urge every athlete to go to Australia and be the very best athlete they can be and fly the rainbow nation’s flag high.’

Since being admitted back into the global sports family, South Africa have sent teams to six Commonwealth Games around the globe starting with the 1994 Games in Victoria, British Colombia.

During this period they have finished fifth on the medals table on three occasions (Kuala Lumpur, 1998; Melbourne, 2006 and New Delhi, 2010).

At the last Games, in Glasgow four years ago, the team ended seventh with a total medal count of 40 (13 gold, 10 silver and 17 bronze).

The full list of athletes representing South Africa at the 2018 Commonwealth Games:

AQUATICS

Swimming

Women: Erin Gallagher, Tatjana Schoenmaker, Dune Coetzee, Kate Beavon, Kaylene Corbett, Emily Visagie, Marlies Ross, Nathania van Niekerk, Kristin Bellingan, Mariella Venter and Emma Chelius

Men: Ayrton Sweeney, Cameron van der Burgh, Chad le Clos, Jarryd Baxter, Brad Tandy, Brent Szurdoki, Martin Binedell, Ryan Coetzee, Eben Vorster, Luan Grobbelaar, Calvyn Justus and Michael Houlie.

Para-swimming: Christian Sadie, Kaleb van der Merwe

Diving: Nicole Gillis, Micaela Bouter, Julia Vincent

ATHLETICS

Women: Caster Semenya, Sunette Viljoen and Wenda Nel.

Men: Akani Simbine, Antonio Alkana, Constant Pretorius, LJ van Zyl, Lebogang Shange, Wayne Snyman, Luvo Manyonga, Ruswahl Samaai, Phil-Mar Janse van Rensburg and Breyton Poole.

Para-athletics: Women – Juanelie Meijer

Men: Ndodomzi Ntutu, Hilton Langenhoven, Dyan Buis, Charl du Toit, Union Sekailwe, Reinhardt Hamman and Juanre Jenkinson

BADMINTON

Women: Elsie de Villiers, Johanita Scholtz and Michelle Butler-Emmett

Men: Bongani von Bodenstein, Cameron Coetzer and Prakash Vijayanath

BOXING

Siyabulela Mphongoshi and Sinethemba Blom.

CYCLING

Men: Willie Smit, Nicholas Dlamini, Clint Hendricks and Brendon Davids

Track: Women – Charlene du Preez, Elfriede Wolfaardt, Ilze Bole, Danielle van Niekerk and Adelia Neethling

Men: Steven van Heerden, Nolan Hoffmann, David Maree, Joshua van Wyk and Gert Fouchè

Mountain biking: Women – Mariske Strauss and Cherie Redecker

Men: Alan Hatherly

HOCKEY

Men’s team: Gowan Jones, Siyavuya Nolutshungu, Daniel Bell, Jethro Eustice, Gareth Heyns, Tyson Dlungwana, Austin Smith, Daniel Sibbald, Timothy Drummond, Reza Rosenburg, Ryan Julius, Owen Mvimbi, Clinton Panther, Nqobile Ntuli, Abdud-Dayaan Cassiem, Keenan Horne, Tevin Kok and Ryan Crowe.

Women’s team: Phumelela Mbande, Nicole la Fleur, Erin Hunter, Nicole Walraven, Lisa-Marie Deetlefs, Celia Evans, Nicolene Terblanche, Shelley Jones, Quanita Bobbs, Kristen Paton, Ilse Davids, Stephanie Baxter, Ongeziwe Mali, Dirkie Chamberlain, Candice Manuel, Sulette Damons, Jade Mayne and Bernadette Coston.

LAWN BOWLS

Women: Elma Davis, Esme Kruger, Nicolene Neal, Colleen Piketh and Johanna Snyman

Men: Gerald Baker, Petrus Breitenbach, Jason Evans, Josephus Jacobs and Morgan Muvhango

PARA-LAWN BOWLS

Women: Princess Schroeder

Director: Annatjie van Rooyen

Men: Tobias Botha, Willem Viljoen, Christopher Patton and Philippus Walker

Director: Graham Ward

NETBALL

Bongiwe Msomi, Karla Pretorius, Erin Burger, Izette Griesel, Maryka Holtzhausen, Danelle Lochner, Phumza Maweni, Precious Mthembu, Shadine van der Merwe, Ine-Mari Venter, Zanele Vimbela and Lenize Potgieter

RUGBY SEVENS

Men’s team: To be announced end of February

Women’s team: Nadine Roos, Eloise Webb, Unathi Mali, Rights Mkhari, Zintle Mpupha, Veroeshka Grain, Zenay Jordaan, Marithy Pienaar, Mathrin Simmers, Christelene Steinhobel, Chane Stadler and Zinthle Ndawonde

SHOOTING

Bartholomeus Pienaar, Pierre Basson, Arno Haasbroek and Andre du Toit.

TRIATHLON

Women: Gillian Sanders and Simone Ackermann.

Men: Richard Murray, Henri Schoeman and Wian Sullwald.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Johanni Taljaard, Mona Pretorius and Celestie Engelbrecht

WRESTLING

Jan Louwrens Combrinck, Terry van Rensburg, Johannes Botha, Michael Gaitskill and Martin Erasmus.

PARA-POWERLIFTING

Ricardo Fitzpatrick

PARA-TABLE TENNIS

Theo Cogill