China’s heir apparent, Xi Jinping, is in Washington, schmoozing with the men and women with whom he shall soon wrangle on the world stage. No one in China cares. Instead, 150 million microblog posts later, the NBA’s Jeremy Lin is the biggest thing in China. And two weeks ago, no one knew his name. BY RICHARD POPLAK.
Amid all the epic story-telling, you’d be forgiven for not noticing that a real football match took place last night. On the pitch, Zambia beat Cote D’Ivoire in a penalty shootout after a tense but exciting match to win the African Cup of Nations for the very first time. Off the pitch, a rather more epic narrative was being spun, involving a classic David vs. Goliath tale, post-conflict reconciliation and the exorcising of at least 18 demons. By SIMON ALLISON.
The relationship between Fabio Capello and the English Football Association had, in recent days, become untenable. In standing by his twice-disgraced captain and undermining the wishes of England’s top footballing brass, Capello paid the ultimate price and resigned following a showdown with FA chairman David Bernstein. By Styli Charalambous.
Pakistan whitewashing England in a Test series. New Zealand drawing with Australia. Shane Warne and Liz Hurley hooking up. This is all cricket-through-the-looking-glass stuff. But after years of Australian dominance (following on years of West Indies dominance), this can only be good for the game. By PAUL BERKOWITZ.
In a sport that is now a mere sideshow, no one made a better boxing corner-man and trainer than Angelo Dundee. He stood beside some of the greatest fighters and the greatest fights, and leaves the ring a legend. By RICHARD POPLAK.
The recent ODI series against the Sri Lankans saw the Proteas win 3-2. It was also the debut of AB de Villiers’ captaincy. PAUL BERKOWITZ was pleasantly surprised by the flair and innovation that he’s brought to the captaincy.
In the 100th staging of the men’s Australian Open final, tennis fans were treated to a duel of blockbuster proportions as Novak Djokovic continued his monopoly of Grand Slam events. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.
In the worst kept secret since George Michael came out the closet, the South African Rugby Union will announce Heynecke Meyer as the new Springbok coach on Friday. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.
The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off on Saturday, and tourists are descending on hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea by the handful. If you are one of the lucky few, here’s a handy travel guide you probably shouldn’t rely on completely. By SIMON ALLISON.
As Muhammad Ali turns 70 on Tuesday, some commentators suggest that the ageing boxer’s career holds little resonance or interest for young people today. REBECCA DAVIS reminds us why the man they called “The Greatest” is one of the most famous people on Earth.
On Friday, after the first day of the third test between Australia and India, several significant questions concerning the future of cricket were answered. Some more surprising than others. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.
To describe the upcoming Australian Open as tantalising would be to introduce Megan Fox as mildly attractive. It really does seem as though men’s tennis is smack in the middle of a golden age, with a series of contenders all worthy of holding aloft the Norman Brookes Challenge cup and a winner’s cheque of almost R20-million. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.
Dale Steyn is only half-way through his Test bowling career but he’s already one of the greatest players the world has ever seen. How much higher can he go? PAUL BERKOWITZ hazards a guess.
If you’re not an American football follower, you may not be familiar with the name Tim Tebow. But the young quarterback is rapidly becoming as much of a cultural phenomenon in the States as a sportsman. By REBECCA DAVIS.
It was the dream return to the Emirates that every single fan wanted: Arsenal legend Thierry Henry scored the winner against Leeds United in an otherwise uneventful FA Cup fixture. You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who is unmoved. By our decidedly unbiased SIPHO HLONGWANE.
The world's richest sporting competition happens to be the one that is least predictable. Which is why it is also the best sporting competition in the world. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.
Looking back on an year of two world cups, the hangover of another and excluding some splashes in the swimming pool, 2011 wasn’t very kind to South Africa. STYLI CHARALAMBOUS struggles to digest a year that began with so much sporting promise, but ended in heartburn.
Sri Lanka are touring South Africa for the first time in almost a decade. The visitors are in disarray: their young squad is riddled with injuries and lacks experience, apart from a strong middle order. South Africa are expected to win the first Test at Centurion. By PAUL BERKOWITZ.
After 749 days without a win as a professional golfer, Tiger Woods ended his drought in swashbuckling fashion on Sunday. But while golf may have been a little less exciting since his fall from grace, the former number one is still a long way from “being back”. After all, he won his own tournament – not even a major. By KEVIN BLOOM.
The Australian team stood firm and won the final Test at the Wanderers, sharing the spoils of the series with the Proteas. PAUL BERKOWITZ looks back on a magical, all-too-brief fortnight.
As soon as the Test series between South Africa and Australia began, it is about to be concluded in the second and final Test at the Wanderers. PAUL BERKOWITZ writes from the steam cooker of Johannesburg, a city sluggish under an oppressive heatwave, and wonderers which team will be hardened by the heat and which one will crack.
The second day of the first SA – Australia Test was so bizarre and unearthly that it’s hard to believe it actually happened. During a day when voicemail messages lasted longer than some batsmen at the crease, PAUL BERKOWITZ tried to make sense of it all.
Joe Frazier, the sweet science's epic rival to Muhammad Ali, passed away at 67 from liver cancer. Frazier beat Ali in that legendary fight in Madison Square Garden in 1971. It took him years to come to terms with Ali's taunts, both in the ring and outside it, but before he died, Frazier told the world he had forgiven Ali. Way to go, Smokin’ Joe. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.
One of the moments of the past Rugby World Cup that the New Zealand side would rather we forgot was the famous Twitter ban that was imposed on its players. It was soon lifted, of course, but did make the managers look like Luddites. A Mexican football club is looking at Twitter rather differently. Instead of player names, the new Los Jaguares kit will feature the players’ Twitter handles. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.
On Tuesday Pakistani cricketers Mohammad Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were found guilty of plotting to cheat and to take bribes in a match against England last year. The verdict is another crushing blow to Pakistani cricket, but it serves also as an indictment of the modern game. By KHADIJA PATEL.
The IRB has named the officials in charge for the upcoming Six Nations Championship, and a certain New Zealander’s name is nowhere to be seen. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.
With the seventh edition of the Rugby World Cup now done and dusted, the new champions crowned in front of a packed Eden Park, STYLI CHARALAMBOUS takes look a back at the highs, the lows and the mixed bag of what was RWC 2011.
World Cup finals hardly ever become the try-scoring fests of earlier parts of the tournament. This one was no different as the All Blacks scraped home by 8-7, in front of a sold-out Eden Park. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.
He knows he should be a better man, accept fate and swallow that bitter-tasting medicine of defeat. But he just can’t. Rather than achingly anticipating a splendid spectacle of World Cup final rugby, STYLI CHARALAMBOUS previews the acrimonious match that is sans his beloved Springboks.
On Monday, 17 October 2011, something happened in the world of tennis that was last seen in July 2003. For the first time in just over eight years, the number four appeared beside the name of Roger Federer on the ATP World Rankings list, prompting his detractors to predict the end of an era, and the single-handed backhand. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.
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