A soggy start to the day ended in successful style as SA’s wheelchair tennis duo of KG Montjane and Mariska Venter claimed victory in their first-round double encounter of the Paralympics at Roland Garros on Friday night.
The pair endured a long day of delays thanks to the persistent rain in Paris and eventually only took to the court late on Friday night to play Charlotte Fairbank and Emmanuelle Morch of France.
The South Africans looked to be on shaky ground when they went down 4-6 in the first set but then bounced back in sensational fashion to win the second set 6-1 and take the deciding tiebreaker 10-4.
“That was a hard win to get against the whole crowd and the whole country!”
Wheelchair Tennis Doubles First Round Winner, Mariska Venter
As for keeping focused during the delays, Montjane added:
“You can only control the controllable, you can’t control nature, so we just had to stay composed and be patient and wait for our turn.”
Wheelchair Tennis Doubles First Round Winner, Kgothatso Montjane
With the win, the duo have booked a quarterfinal date with China’s Xiaohui Li and Zhenzhen Zhu, but before that, they’re due back on court in just a few hours for their respective first-round singles matches.
Over at the Stade de France track, Sheryl James was the first South African woman in medal contention at the Paralympics.
The 38-year-old claimed bronze in Tokyo three years ago in the T37 400m, which she’ll also be contesting in the French capital along with the 100m. But Friday saw her taking to the track for the T37 200m final.
“It was not my best race ever, but it was just really great to be in the race,” she admitted after finishing seventh in a time of 29.08 seconds.
China’s Xiaoyan Wen took the gold in a new Paralympic record of 25.86 seconds with Ukraine’s Nataliia Kobzar claiming silver in 27.43 and Wen’s compatriot Fenfen Jiang the bronze in 27.55.
Speaking afterwards about the soggy conditions on the track after the day of rain in Paris, James reckoned: “You’ve got to deal with the conditions that come your way. The track was a little bit slippery but it is what it is… we do what we’ve got to do.”
As for the immense support for local athlete Mandy Francois-Elie particularly after performing in front of no spectators in Tokyo thanks to the Covid pandemic, James added: “It’s just really great to see a country support their people so much. It really makes a huge difference.
“I would love for us to have something like that in South Africa. I think we do have the capacity to do it.”
Mandy Francois-Elie on the Support of a Home Crowd
Over at the South Paris Arena, Elanza Jordaan, who together with Karabo Morapedi, is making history as the first athletes from South Africa to compete in Boccia at the Paralympics, put up a brave fight against Portugal’s Ana Costa but ultimately went down 4-2.
That was Jordaan’s second pool match in the individual BC3 preliminaries after going down 8-0 to Yuen Kei Ho of Singapore on Thursday night. The 25-year-old, who has her mom Sandre as her ramp operator, will be up against Evani Calado of Brazil in her final pool match on Saturday.
Boccia is a sport similar to lawn bowls and is contested chiefly by athletes with Cerebral Palsy with impaired functional ability in all four limbs.
Meanwhile, an excited Kirsty Weir is gearing up for her Paralympic debut after being inspired by watching the Games in Tokyo three years ago. Those Games took place around the time a debilitating 14-year journey to find her diagnosis finally came to an end.
In a triumphant full-circle moment, Weir, who was eventually diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, neurological lupus, will line up for the Para triathlon on Sunday.
“I didn’t expect to be here. I’ve achieved a goal that I never really knew about,” she said. “I’m going to stand on the start line and I will be nervous, I will be scared and intimidated, but I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. I will try and learn a lot so when I go back home I can put it all into practice again and move forward.
“I’m just living the life right now… I’ve learned so much already. I haven’t stopped smiling. I’ve never felt so happy, so content ever in my life. It just feels right.”
2024 Paris Paralympic Games Triathlete, Kirsty Weir
“The fear of that getting taken from me, like so much, has lived with me every day because I’m happy for the first time ever in my life,” said Weir. “The sport gave me a reason every day to fight, to try. For me, this is just the start.”
SA athletes to look out for in Paralympic action in Paris on Saturday are swimmers Alani Ferreira and Danika Vyncke in the S13 400m freestyle heats and hopefully final as well as Jordaan in the Boccia and Tezna Abrahams in the T64 long jump final.
Paris 2024 Paralympic Games Calendar Highlights for Saturday, 31 August 2024
Athletics
Women’s long jump, T64 final (11.37am): Tezna Abrahams
Boccia
Women’s individual, BC3, Preliminary Pool B (2pm): Elanza Jordaan vs Evani Calado (Brazil)
Aquatics
Women’s 400m freestyle, S13 heats (10.37am): Danika Vyncke
Women’s 400m freestyle, S13 heats (10.45am): Alani Ferreira
Wheelchair Tennis
Women’s singles, first round (12noon): Mariska Venter vs Yui Kamiji (Japan)
Women’s singles, first round (1pm): Kgothatso Montjane vs Louyao Guo (China)
Main Photo Caption: Sheryl James was the first South African woman in medal contention at the Paralympics at the Stade de France athletics track, where she finished the T37 200m final seventh in a time of 29.08 seconds. China’s Xiaoyan Wen took the gold in a new Paralympic record of 25.86, with Ukraine’s Nataliia Kobzar claiming silver in 27.43 and Wen’s compatriot Fenfen Jiang the bronze in 27.55. Photo: Team SA / Roger Sedres
Photo 2 Caption: Wheelchair Tennis Doubles First Round Winners Mariska Venter and Kgothatso Montjane (pictured) came from behind to win their first round. Photo: Team SA
Photo 3 Caption: “It was not my best race ever, but it was just really great to be in the race,” Sheryl James after her T37 400m final. Photo: Team SA / Roger Sedres
Photo 4 Caption: Boccia no. 1 Elanza Jordaan made history as one of two first South African athletes to compete in Boccia at the Paralympics. Photo: Team SA / Roger Sedres
Photo 5 Caption: Jordaan put up a brave fight against Portugal’s Ana Costa but ultimately went down 4-2 in her second round. Photo: Team SA / Roger Sedres
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