Strong-arm Zanlé, 13, no pushover for heftier adversaries
● At 13 years old and tipping the scales at 60kg, Zanlé Nel has learnt to stand her ground against big odds.
Sizing up the competition is something the Mbombela (Nelspruit) teenager had to learn very quickly as SA’s youngest competing arm wrestler.
In May she won bronze at the South African championships in Sandton — just under a year since first taking up the sport.
In the round robin competition she had to go arm to arm with four women, one of whom had a sizable weight advantage at 120kg. But she pressed on, earning herself third place in the ladies open class.
“I get an adrenaline rush every time I compete. It’s a mental game that requires a lot of focus,” Zanlé says.
She started competing at the age of 12, but had been practising for years with her dad, Hanco, himself a South African champion arm wrestler. With her mom Yorinda the ladies champ for two consecutive years, they suggested Zanlé take up the sport to help cope with her health problems as a type 2 diabetic.
Yorinda has stopped competing but she is there to cheer on her daughter.
Last weekend Zanlé again showed her skill when she was placed third in the left and right arm divisions during a friendly match in Secunda in Mpumalanga.
“It’s important for me to keep active and involved. I’ve loved it for the longest time and I always wanted to join my dad. There aren’t a lot of female players, so I hope more people will join us,” said the soft-spoken teen.
A match round can last from five seconds to three minutes, depending on the strength of the opponents, she said.
Across SA there are 11 clubs consisting of 150 members.
“It’s a good vibe. I enjoy going for matches so much. You won’t see people being violent or doing funny things, they find it fun and respect it,” said the grade 7 pupil, who is home schooled.
Yorinda said her daughter was a “wise, mature” child. “It can’t be academics all the time. This is a good opportunity for her to have a social life. I support it because it doesn’t interrupt her life but enhances it.”
Linus Cornelius, secretary of the South African Arm Wrestling Federation, called it a gentlemen’s game.
“It’s inappropriate and dangerous to use it as a drinking game,” he said.
When the federation was established in 2002 it was a men-only affair, but women have been slowly taking up the sport. There are now 10 women competing.
“Although arm wrestling is still finding its feet in SA, our wrestlers are able to perform above average by using older techniques. They are able to make the overseas competitors sit up and take notice,” Cornelius said.