An update on our Commonwealth stars

KNYSNA |PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - All of the Knysna/Plettenberg Bay athletes competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games have already been in action, with Zandile Masuku and Mathrin Simmers wrapping up their participation in the games as their team, the Women's 7s team Imbokodo, finished seventh.

Imbokodo took part in Pool B alongside Scotland, Australia and Fiji. It was a tough time in Birmingham for Imbokodo as their campaign started with a 38-0 loss against Australia and a 41-0 defeat against Fiji.

They scored their first points in the 33-12 defeat to Scotland, but could only qualify for the fifth-to-eighth playoffs, where they lost 36-0 against England.

Their time to shine came in the seventh place play-off when they faced Sri Lanka. Masuku was on fire in Imbokodo colours, managing to score two tries as they ran out 52-0 victors to finish in seventh place. Masuku and Simmers played in every one of the games, and Simmers also donned the captain's armband a few times.

On the hockey field Sam Mvimbi was in action for the SA men's team that has been placed in Pool A along with Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Scotland.

Their group stage got underway on 30 July against Pakistan where they drew 2-2, scoring an equaliser in the final minute of the game. SA's first goal was scored by Connor Beauchamp from a penalty corner which was injected by Mvimbi.

Sam Mvimbi in SA colours Photo: Maritz Verwey

Next up was Scotland on Monday 1 August and it was one heck of a game. SA went 2-0 up before falling behind 3-2 and equalising to 3-3. Mvimbi was handed a green card in the third quarter with the score level at 2-2. Scotland took a 4-3 lead, but SA battled back to make it 4-4 in the final quarter.

The fourth goal was scored from a penalty corner by Matt Guise-Brown, which was also injected by Mvimbi.

The match-winning goal came in the final minute. Mvimbi won possession of the ball in the midfield and played a pass into the circle that was guided home by Taine Paton after a deflection off a Scotland stick.

They next faced Australia on Wednesday 3 August, but this result was not available before going to print.

Off the field and into the pool, Aimee Canny was in action as part of Team SA's swimming contingent. Her first item was on 29 July in the form of the 200m freestyle, and she swam in Heat 3.

Canny finished third in her heat in a time of 2:00.10, which was the ninth-fastest time overall and meant she didn't qualify for the final (only the top eight progress) by a tiny margin - eighth place swam a 2:00.01.

In the 4x100m freestyle relay, Canny swam the first leg in a time of 54.84 with her team finishing in 3:40.31 to earn fourth place. The next day Canny swam first in the 4x200m freestyle relay, finishing her leg in 1:58.72. The team again placed fourth with a time of 8:02.25.

Canny's last individual item was the 100m freestyle on Monday 1 August. In Heat 8 she qualified for the semis with a time of 55.27 seconds, before going on to swim a time of 54.78 in the semi-final to qualify for the final on Tuesday night. In the final she finished seventh, completing her race in a time of 54:88.

Zandile Masuku and Mathrin Simmers.