Team SA began Tuesday with three medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, thanks to Alan Hatherly and Tatjana Smith’s contributions on Monday. On Tuesday, our athletes are competing in five different sports.
Rowing: Women’s Single Sculls, Quarter-Finals
Paige Bandenhorst finished fourth in her quarter-final. The top three from each of the four heats advance to semi-finals A/B, while the remaining competitors go to semi-finals C/D.
Therefore, Bandenhorst will be competing for places 13th to 24th.
Swimming: Men’s 200m Butterfly, Heats
Matthew Sates finished 6th with a time of 1:57.04, placing him 20th overall and missing a spot in the semi-finals.
Cycling (BMX): Men’s Park Qualification
Vincent Leygonie did not finish in the top 9 and was eliminated after placing 12th with a points average of 75.85 over two runs.
Rugby Sevens
Women’s 11th/12th pace playoff: Team SA 21 Fiji 15
Men’s Hockey
Men’s Pool A: Team SA 1 Germany 5
Team South Africa’s men’s hockey players continued their demanding schedule by playing their third match in four days at the 2024 Paris Olympics, this time facing Germany. On Tuesday they went down 5-1 to sixth-ranked Germany.
Having previously defeated Germany at Tokyo 2020, Team SA aimed to deliver another memorable performance, hoping to honor head coach Cheslin Gie’s birthday. However, Germany quickly took the lead. In the final minute of the first quarter, Christopher Ruhr doubled Germany’s lead with a penalty stroke.
Justus Weigand extended the lead to 3-0 when he scored from within the circle. Despite a good chance for South Africa, the shot went wide. The second period was uneventful, and Germany maintained their 3-0 lead at halftime.
Early in the second half, South African goalkeeper Gowan Jones made several saves before a counterattack almost resulted in a goal for South Africa, earning applause from the crowd. South Africa then won a penalty corner, which Matt Guise-Brown converted to make it 3-1. However, Germany soon restored their three-goal advantage with a penalty corner goal by Gonzalo Peillat.
South Africa had another penalty corner opportunity after good work from Bili Ntuli, but Mustapha Cassiem’s shot was saved, and his rebound went over the crossbar. In the final minutes, a defensive error allowed Mats Grambusch to score Germany’s fifth goal with a brilliant shot into the top right corner.
Despite the defeat, South Africa now turns its focus to the next game against Spain on Wednesday, where they will compete for potential quarter-final places.
Photo by: Mimmo Perna