1978 — Pierre Mans is beaten 25-18 in the world snooker championship final by five-times titleholder Ray “Dracula” Reardon of Wales in Sheffield, England. The best-of-49-frame final was a hard-fought battle in the early stages, with “Perrie” Mans trailing just 17-18 on the final day before Reardon surged ahead. That remains South Africa’s best performance at the world championships.
1979 — World champion Kork Ballington and Jon Ekerold give South Africa a one-two finish in the 350cc race at the Austrian motorcycling grand prix at Salzburgring. Ballington set a 1 min 25.29 sec lap record as he averaged 176,52km/h to win the race in 50:37.06, 22 seconds ahead of Ekerold.
1979 — Simon Hobday quits drinking for the week to claim his second European Tour victory, taking the Madrid Open by two strokes after shooting 285. “I’ve not touched a single beer all week,” he said afterwards. “All I’ve had was one glass of wine on Thursday. Usually I drink as much as I can. But I thought I had a chance this week and I wanted the money.” South Africa-born Hobday, who pocketed R9,000 for the win, had recently finished service as a headquarters clerk in the Rhodesian army and had had his winnings in Britain frozen by the Bank of England, leaving him reliant on his continental earnings.
1990 — Unfazed by the water protecting the final green, David Frost produces two great bunker shots to win the USF-and-G Classic in New Orleans, one stroke ahead of Australian Greg Norman. Frost had started the final round five shots clear of Norman, but struggled on the front nine before fighting his way back with a 69. On the last hole he needed par to force a playoff. Frost drove into the fairway bunker, and with a quarter of his ball buried in the sand and 187m from the pin, he took on the shot. He struck a 3-iron into the front bunker and then holed out for a 12-under-par 276.
1995 — Mbulelo Botile wins the IBF bantamweight title when he knocks out Colombian Harold Mestre in the second round at Soccer City in Johannesburg. The win makes Mzi Mnguni’s gym in East London the first in the country to boast two reigning world champions. The other is stablemate Vuyani Bungu, who successfully defends his IBF junior-featherweight crown on the same bill, outpointing Victor Llerena, also of Colombia.
2000 — Bafana Bafana beat Mauritius 3-0 in a Cosafa Cup match at the Royal Bafokeng stadium. Patrick Moyo converted a penalty in the 13th minute while Godfrey Sapula and Siyabonga Nomvethe scored late in the second half.
2001 — Bafana Bafana beat Mozambique 3-0 in a Cosafa Cup match in Maputo. Pollen Ndlanya netted in the first half with Nkosinathi Nhleko and Clement Mazibuko scoring in the second stanza.
2005 — AB de Villiers scores 103 not out and Graeme Smith an unbeaten 106 on the first day of the fourth Test against the West Indies in St John’s.
2007 — Charl Schwartzel wins the second of his 11 European Tour events, shooting a 16-under-par 272 to win the Spanish Open in Madrid by one stroke.
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