Last minute changes to Team SA for Commonwealth Games
There have been some enforced changes made to Team SA ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games which get under way in Birmingham on Thursday.
The changes come as Team SA prepares to send the team into Games competition. With one day to go until the opening ceremony, the team has been assembling in Birmingham in the various athletes’ villages. Team sports representing the country include men’s and women’s sevens rugby, men’s and women’s hockey, women’s netball and women’s T20 cricket.
Two cricketers selected to represent Team SA in the inaugural women’s T20 competition have withdrawn from the squad, with Marizanne Kapp (personal reasons) and Trisha Chetty (injured) confirming that they will be unavailable for the Games.
In addition, mountain biking’s Mariska Strauss (Covid-19) and Alan Hatherly (scheduling of races) are now out of the Games, as is cycling’s Nicholas Dlamini (injured). Dlamini has been replaced by Callum Ormiston.
ALSO READ:
Para-athlete Ernst van Dyk is out injured and replaced in the para-marathon by Tiaan Bosch, while tri-athlete Nicholas Quenet (injured) will also be an absentee from the original list of names declared. Quenet has been replaced by Dylan Nortje.
Track athlete, men’s 200m sprinter Luxolo Adams (fatigue) has also withdrawn from the Games. He was not replaced. Hammer thrower Alan Cummings has been added to the squad as a late replacement.
Team SA netball captain Bongi Msomi and para-swimmer Christian Sadie will carry the country’s flag at Thursday’s opening ceremony. The closing ceremony will take place on 8 August.