1947 — Three South Africans strike success at the French tennis championships, with Eric Sturgess taking both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles crowns. He and countryman Eustace Fannin won the men’s doubles by beating American Tom Brown and Bill Sidwell of Australia 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3. Then Sturgess teamed up with another compatriot, Sheila Summers, to take the mixed doubles mantle by beating Christian Caralulis of Romania and Pole Jadwiga Jedrzejowska 6-0 6-0. Sturgess also made the final of the men’s singles, losing 6-8 5-7 4-6 to Jozsef Asboth of Hungary.
1951 — Eric Rowan, 160 not out overnight, goes on to score 236 on the second day of the fourth Test against England at Leeds. His brother Athol took 5/174 a few days later as the matched ended in a draw, with the home side leading the five-match series 2-1.
1952 — Esther Brand becomes the first South African woman to win an Olympic gold medal when she takes the high jump title at the Helsinki Games. She was the only one in the field to clear 1.67m, though she would have still beaten Briton Sheila Lerwill on countback if she’d not improved on the 1.65m they both cleared in the ninth round of competition.
1965 — Debutant Richard Dumbrill takes four wickets to give SA a sniff of victory before the first Test against England at Lord’s ends in a draw. Chasing 191 for victory, the home side was on 145/7 when stumps were drawn. Their last four wickets fell for 27 runs.
1968 — The Springboks run in four tries as they thump the British and Irish Lions 19-6 at Ellis Park in the final fourth Test to win the series 3-0. Flank Jan Ellis, wing Syd Nomis and centres Eben Olivier and Mannetjies Roux all dotted down, with flyhalf Piet Visagie slotting two conversions and fullback Rodney Gould landing a drop.
1974 — The Springboks, already 0-3 down in the series, grab a consolation and controversial 13-13 draw against the British Lions. The visitors are denied a try when South African wing Chris Pope seemingly uses his foot to dot the ball down in his in-goal area. Even so, the Lions still win the try-count 2-1, with winger Andy Irvine and flanker Roger Uttley going over. Centre Peter Cronje scored for the home side. That was the first time the Boks had lost a series to the British outfit since they became the Lions, and the first time they had lost to a British composite team since 1896.
1980 — Double world champion Kork Ballington wins the 250cc race at the Finnish motorcycle grand prix in Imatra, but takes fifth in the 500cc, his best finish in his inaugural season in the premier class.
1985 — Piet Crous loses his WBA cruiserweight title, getting stopped in the 11th round by American Dwight Qawi at Sun City.
1991 — Corrie Sanders wins the vacant South African heavyweight title when he blows away Johnny du Plooy in the first round of their bout at Sun City. Sanders would go on to become the country’s longest-reigning heavyweight champion, but by the time he relinquished the belt in 1998, he had not made a single defence. None of the contenders considered themselves good enough to challenge him.
2002 — The Springboks match Australia 4-4 in the try count, but go down 27-38 in a Tri-Nations match in Brisbane. Centre Marius Joubert scored two and Brent Russell and Bobby Skinstad dotted down.
2002 — In a clash of the former IBF junior-featherweight champions, who ruled from 1994 until 2001, Vuyani Bungu and Lehlohonolo Ledwaba meet at Carnival City. Ledwaba, celebrating his 31st birthday, is four years younger than Bungu, and he dominates to win a unanimous decision to lift the marginal IBO featherweight title.
2019 — Replacement scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies scores a last-gasp try, converted by flyhalf Handré Pollard, as the Springboks clinch a 16-16 Rugby Championship draw against the All Blacks in Wellington. It was the 24th time SA had drawn an international.
2019 — Chad le Clos claims his second medal of the world championships in Gwangju, South Korea, as he wins bronze in the 100m butterfly in 51.16 sec. American Caeleb Dressel, who broke Michael Phelps’ 10-year-old world record in the semifinals the previous night going 49.50, won in 49.66. Russian Andrey Minakov was second in 50.83.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.