KZN blackball pool quartet are on cue for world championship
FOR the first time four women from KwaZulu-Natal have qualified to represent South Africa at the Blackball World Pool Championship which will be held in Australia later this year.
Sixteen-year-old Erin Lazarus, veteran player Apsra Panchoo, Joyce Angelina Soupen and Prinessa Odayan finished in the top 12 of the women’s category of the National Blackball Federation Pool Championship in Bloemfontein last month.
Lazarus placed sixth, Panchoo 10th, Odayan 11th and Soupen 12th.
Lazarus, of Westville, a Grade 11 pupil at Durban Girls’ College who has been playing pool for just under two years, and is excited about the opportunity to play in Australia.
She becomes the youngest player in history to qualify for national team selection.
“I am super stoked about going to Australia. I’m keen to experience playing pool at an international level. It was a great experience to play against some of the top women in the country. I am not sure of what to expect in terms of the quality of the players as it was my first women’s national event.
“I was extremely excited about our KZN women’s team winning a silver medal and a gold medal for being the top provincial performer,” said Lazarus.
Panchoo, of Durban North, who has been ranked in the national top 10 player standings for the last 22 years, is the only women’s world championship player in Africa for blackball pool. She also looks forward to the new challenge.
“I have travelled to every other continent during my sport career and
Australia is a huge opportunity for me to tick this huge box, especially by attending a world championship event. I would love to see this wonderful country and even bring back medals as South Africa has been doing at every event I attended,” said Panchoo.
Odayan, who has been playing the sport for the last five years, enjoyed a stellar year.
“Each year has been a learning experience with my achievements growing and this year has been the best, from attaining the number one seed position in KZN and being the SAPS women’s singles champion to making the Protea squad.
“I love that this sport is very disciplined, it challenges you not only mentally but physically as well.”
President of the South African National Blackball Federation, Vincent Pillay, emphasised that blackball pool is a professional sport.
“At the outset I would like to oust the thought that blackball pool is an underground sport played by frequenters of bars and taverns.
“The world over has fashioned the sport into a professional activity that warrants time, dedication, patience and skill.”
Pillay paid tribute to the women for their achievement.
“These women have put in exactly that, lots of hard work, time and dedication. At this point special mention must be made of Erin, at her young age she showed wealth of experience and composure to battle among the best and came up trumps. Her future in the sport is definitely bright.”
Pillay also highlighted that blackball pool has risen in terms of providing more opportunities to women who have historically been denied the same level of opportunity as men on the sportsfield.
“Blackball has also evolved, presenting opportunities to both genders, and reaches out to underprivileged communities through different coaching and development streams.
“The women’s sides have proven to the world that they are always there competing for gold in their category and have gained a feared reputation globally,” he said.
■ Fund-raising initiatives will be held to fund the quartet on their Australian journey. To assist, or for more information, contact Aspra Panchoo on 082 555 5639.
FORMER heavyweight champion of the world (IBF) Francois Botha, pictured, may make a return to the ring – albeit as a wrestler – if his weekend comments are anything to go by.
Botha, famously known as The White Buffalo, made a guest appearance during the second night of the Rumble in South Africa wrestling event at the Sibaya Casino last Friday. After watching wrestlers in action, Botha was convinced he can prevail among the theatrics using his boxing ring background.
In his heyday, Botha fought against the likes of Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Hollyfield, Michael Moorer and Axel Schultz (who he beat for the IBF world title). He has 63 fights under his belt and if he makes the cross-over into wrestling he will be following in the footsteps of Tyson and, more recently, reigning WBC champion Tyson Fury.
The 51-year-old appears to think that he has the ability to overpower the current crop of wrestlers.
“It does not look like these guys can ride a buffalo,” he quipped before issuing a challenge to the other wrestlers to step up against him in the ring in the future.
Director of World Wrestling Superstars, Mano Singh, felt that Botha’s comments may be “short-sighted”, saying wrestling and boxing are two different worlds that require different techniques.
“He has not been in the (boxing) ring for 15-years. Botha’s skills as a boxer will not necessarily help him in wrestling as the two require different skill-sets which take years of practice to perfect,” said Singh.
Whether Botha will follow in the
Frans Botha
footsteps of former rival Tyson, who crossed over from boxing into professional wrestling, remains to be seen.
The Rumble in South Africa event featured local wrestling stars of past, present and the future and featured both men’s and women’s matches.
Among the veterans were Tornado, Black Widow, Steve Eeden, Renegade and American “Leather Face”, whose fierce ring entry with a chainsaw scared many spectators. Current stars of the game included Rex Gunner, Jay Titan, Joshua “The Bull”, CJ Gold, Monre, Gravity, Monster Wiese and Kyle Ripley.
Gurshinder Singh, of India, was the star of the show.
After outclassing Tornado during
Wednesday’s event, he faced off against Leather Face and Devon van der Westhuizen in a triple threat match on Friday. Leather Face had made a strong statement on Wednesday by first defeating Joshua the Bull and then going on to beat both Rex Gunner and Jason Brown in a two on one handicap match on the same night.
Leather Face returned to taunt Gurshinder at the end of the show on Wednesday which led to Mano Singh declaring the main event of Friday as being a triple threat between Gurshinder, Devon van der Westhuizen and Leather Face.
Singh won the hearts of the crowd and had them chanting his signature catchphrase “Singh is king” during the triple threat match. After working together with Van der Westhuizen, Leather Face was contained during the match which ended up being a two-way contest between Singh and Van der Westhuizen.
While Van der Westhuizen gave a good account of his skills, Singh’s superior athleticism as well as the backing of the crowd carried him to victory and he celebrated his success with the crowd afterwards.
Some of the veterans of the industry who made guest appearances at the event and delivered messages to the crowd included Tiger Ellappen of Shallcross and “the wrestling guru” Tiger Dalibar Singh.
Tiger, who wrestled in the UK during his youth, joked: “I feel like putting my wrestling boots back on but they are in London.
Mano Singh promised that there will be more wrestling events in the future and may organise another later this year.