South African sport had plenty to celebrate in 2025.
Across local competitions and major international events, athletes raised the bar, broke records, collected medals and, in some cases, reached places no South African had gone before.
Those achievements took centre stage at the 19th SA Sports Awards at Sun City on 22 August, where the country’s sporting elite gathered under the theme ‘Crowned By Greatness’.
Among those recognised with Minister’s Excellence Awards were Pool champion Tasneem Solomons, hockey star Mustapha Cassiem, and record-breaking long-distance runner Adriaan Wildschutt.
Their stories are very different, but each one reflects the determination, talent and competitive spirit that continue to produce sporting champions from our communities.
Mustapha Cassiem
Mustapha Cassiem is a Mitchells Plain-born hockey star who has established himself as one of South Africa’s most prolific indoor players. He made his senior international outdoor debut against the United States in 2020 and competed at the Tokyo Olympics. Cassiem emerged as a global talent at the 2023 Indoor Hockey World Cup, where he was named Young Player of the Tournament. In 2024, he became the first South African men’s player to score 100 international indoor goals. At the 2025 Indoor Hockey World Cup in Croatia, he scored 17 goals, won Player of the Tournament and helped South Africa claim its first-ever World Cup medal.
Tasneem Solomons
Tasneem Solomons is a pool champion from Bonteheuwel who has turned two decades of dedication to the sport into international success. She began playing at 13, encouraged by her father, Ismail Solomons, who coached her at his All Stars club in Bonteheuwel. In 2010, she was part of South Africa’s winning team at the World Blackball Championships in France, before becoming South African eight-ball champion in 2018. Her breakthrough came in 2024 when she defeated Wales’ Kirsty-Lee Davies in Blackpool to become South Africa’s first WEPF Women’s Singles World Master Champion.
Adriaan Wildschutt
Adriaan Wildschutt is a Ceres-born long-distance runner who has become one of South Africa’s leading track athletes. After developing his running in the Western Cape, he moved to the United States on an athletics scholarship, competing for Coastal Carolina University before transferring to Florida State University. He won bronze in the 10,000m at the 2019 World University Games and later established himself among the world’s elite distance runners. Wildschutt holds South African records across the 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, he set a new national 10,000m record of 26:50.64 and finished tenth.
Congratulations to all!
Author: Editorial Team
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