Athletes set to shine at second Yellow pages series meeting
South Africa's top athletes will go all out on Friday at the second Yellow Pages Series meeting at LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria, in their quest to secure a place in the team to the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany, in August.
Last Friday in Potchefstroom at the first of the Yellow Pages Series meetings two athletes, Sunette Viljoen (javelin) and Khotso Mokoena (long jump), already showed that their preparations are on track when they both achieved the IAAF A standard for the Championships in their respective events.
Viljoen will again be in action on Friday and will go all out to improve on her distance of 62,15m set at Potchefstroom. Judging by her excellent form, another world class performance is not out of the question.
Meanwhile Hardus Pienaar, who has long suffered with injuries, will be making his first appearance of the season in the men's javelin. Pienaar has in the past produced world class distances and he would like to start his campaign on a high note.
The men's sprints will be one of the many highlights of the meeting. Thuso Mpuang, who last year set the scene alight in the sprints with outstanding performances, will be in action for the first time this season in the 100m and 200m. He will face up against talented Kagiso Kumbane and Leigh Julius but the trio will have to watch out for Snyman Prinsloo who has posted good performances so far this season with the United Arab Emirates', Omar Al Salfa, also producing a threat.
The women's sprints will be a clash between Isabel le Roux and Tsholofelo Thipe with evergreen Adri Schoeman posing a threat in the 200m.
Another humdinger will be the 800m for women where the Phalula twins, Lebo and Lebogang, will lock horns with up and coming, Caster Semenya and Yvonne Hak (Netherlands). Hak is a world class runner and she can be the impetus to pull the South African girls to a fast time.
LJ van Zyl who is building up for a fast time in the 400m hurdles will tackle top runners in the 400 metres on Friday. Van Zyl realizes that he needs a fast time in the 400m event to assist him to a world beating time in the 400m hurdles and will go all out to give Zimbabwe's international runner, Talkmore Nyongani, and South Africa's best, Sibusiso Sishi and Pieter Smith, the race of their lives.
Other athletes to look out for at the meeting will be Janice Josephs in the 100m hurdles, Anika Smit in the high jump, Janet Wienand in the 400m hurdles and Shaun Bownes who had an impressive run in the 110m hurdles last week.
The meeting will start at 17:00 and will continue until 21:10.
