Sandton Convention Centre played host to the annual Cricket South Africa (CSA) Awards evening.
At the gala dinner Protea batsman Hashim Amla walked away with five of the six awards he was nominated for, including the highly coveted CSA Cricketer of the Year Award.
Amla also won Test Cricketer of the Year, SA Players’ Player of the Year, CSA Fans’ Cricketer of the Year and the KFC So Good! awards.
Amla, known for his humble character, thanked the Almighty for bringing him this far in cricket.
“I am also very surprised and so happy to have received these awards.”
Amla said his main focus would be to continue improving and developing as a cricketer. “There’s still much to learn and I will continue working hard to improve my game.”
Proteas bowler Dale Steyn said Amla deserved to win. “He’s a fantastic player who always stays calm under pressure. He won five awards, but when on stage it looked as if he had only won one. His approach and character remained humble all the time. He’s a true inspiration to us all.”
Other Protea award winners were:
q Ryan McLaren – Newcomer of the Year
q AB De Villiers – ODI Cricketer of the Year
q Charl Langeveldt -  International Pro20 Cricketer of the Year.
The Proteas rest for two months before playing Zimbabwe at home in October.
abed@caxton.co.za

The country’s leading fund-raising soccer extravaganza, the Telkom Charity Cup, will kick off on 7 August at Soccer City.
The tournament allows the participation of only the four Premier Soccer League (PSL) teams with the most votes from the public.
It was announced at a media launch that all 16 Premier Soccer League (PSL) teams were eligible.
These are Ajax Cape Town, AmaZulu, BIDVest Wits, Bloemfontein Celtic, Free State Stars, Golden Arrows, Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns, Maritzburg United, Moroka Swallows, MP Black Aces, Orlando Pirates, Platinum Stars, Santos, Supersport United and Vasco Da Gama.
Voting can be done via phone or sms, and ends on 1 August.
At an official media launch, PSL chief operating officer Professor Ronnie Schloss said the tournament had raised over R40m for charity since its inception 24 years ago.
“This year our target is R5m, and we urge fans and teams to help us reach it.”
This year’s tournament will have special seating for families, and entertainment for children.
“After the diverse attendance of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™, we hope the nation supports this day of soccer for charity. We also urge companies to fill up the 8000 suite seats.”
According to Schloss, 90 000 tickets are  on sale at all Shoprite/Checkers stores and Computicket outlets.
Voters stand a chance of being one of two daily winners of R500, and are automatically entered into the main prize draw of R10 000.
Fans can sms their PSL team of choice to 34620 or log onto www.charitycup.co.za to view phone numbers for voting.
abed@caxton.co.za

Mzansi football fans united in their hundreds to sign a giant Bafana Bafana jersey to show their support for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ at the Southern Sun Grayston hotel in Sandton.
Members of Bafana Bafana joined in the fun and excitement of the day and signed the jersey.
“It is always wonderful to see so many people rooting for us. We appreciate it,” said striker Benni McCarthy.
The Unite Mzansi Unite campaign was launched by Adidas to encourage all South Africans to stand proud behind their national team.
The massive 60m by 48m version of the jersey the host nation’s team will wear for the World Cup weighs 240kg and has travelled by truck around the country.
Diski dancers entertained fans while they queued up to climb on the truck and leave their mark on the garment.
Bafana supporter Kgadi Zondo said, “I have been waiting for ages to sign the jersey and am so excited it is here. Good luck Bafana Bafana.”
Fan Keabetswe Hlahla said, “The World Cup is on African soil for the first time and this is where the trophy will stay.”
Zaskia van Zyl of Southern Sun said the hotel was very excited to accommodate the national team.
Some messages on the jersey read, Good luck boys, we know you will do it whether they like it or not, and, Hi Bafana, lets go roll the ball for Africa.
leonad@caxton.co.za

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The third explosive Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) Africa installment lived up to the hype, easily setting the benchmark for all future Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events in the country.
Fighters from across South Africa entered the hexagon at the Coca Cola dome over the weekend, entertaining a 6000-strong audience over 14 bouts.
Fourways fighter Garreth McLellan stepped into the hexagon with the roar of the crowd behind him to face Warren Allison.
Making his pro MMA debut, Allison managed to last longer than McLellan’s two previous opponents at EFC, but faltered as the more experienced fighter gained position to work some devastating ground and pound before ending the fight with an armbar.
Hands down, fight of the night went to the titanic battle between Costa Ioannou and Brendon Katz. As the two fighters went at each other, the walls of the dome shook from the noise of screaming fans and the weight behind each strike landed by both fighters.
Ioannou dominated in most stand-up encounters, but Katz’s iron face saw him endure the punishment to administer some of his own. The epic fight went the distance, and the judges unanimously deemed Ioannou the victor. Both men, bloodied and beaten, acknowledged the standing ovation.
Bernardo ‘Black Panther’ Mikixi made short work of Jakes Els in the last heavyweight bout of the night, winning on a TKO and securing his place to fight Norman ‘Chef’ Wessels at EFC 04 in August for the heavyweight title.
In the first EFC title fight for the lightweight belt, Wentzel ‘The Animal’ Nel took on ‘King’ Leo Gloss. The fight saw the only knock-out of the night, but surprisingly not from Gloss, who had knocked out every opponent in his last six fights.
After feeling each other out for most of the first round, Nel eventually caught Gloss on the jaw with a solid hook, and he was out cold before he hit the canvas. Nel is the EFC lightweight champion.
stuartd@caxton.co.za

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Wits University was humming with energy as masses celebrated the start of the countdown to the Fifa 2010 World Cup.
The university, which will host Bafana Bafana and the KNVB (Dutch) team, officially welcomed representatives from the teams amid cheers and screams from excited students.
‘Bafana first, The Netherlands second’, was a common call of the day as students promised the cheery ambassador from the Kingdom of The Netherlands, Rob de Vos  that they’d don the orange when Holland played if Dutch supporters donned green and gold for |Bafana matches.
Dancers, musicians, diski dancers and soccer freestylers wooed the crowd while football mad fans played foosball and six-a-side soccer matches. Students even got to cheer on their favourite celebrity during a match featuring the likes of former Wits professional players Eric Tinkler, Roger de Sa, Ashley Makhanya and a number of South African soccer legends.
Did you know?
l Bafana will use Sturrock Park in the West Campus as their training camp base, while Holland will use the main campus (East Campus) as their camp base.
kateh@caxton.co.za

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From custom traditional dances and teams parading around the grounds, the atmosphere was exhilarating and colourful. Each class represented a soccer nation. Photos by Sandton Chronicle reporter Abed Ahmed

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Chronicle Reporter

Fight force rocked Randburg with a fine exhibition of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).There were 14 action-packed fights entertaining a crowd of 1500 people who were on their feet at exciting parts of the fights.
The main international bout between Brian Ebersole (USA) and Martin van Staden (SA) went the way of Ebersole with a reverse triangle choke in round three. His experience showed as he dominated the fight on the ground where he is most comfortable. The much less experienced Van Staden landed some good kicks and a few big punches in round one.
The SA light heavyweight title went back to Durban as Donavin Hawkey taught Wade Henderson from Johannesburg a lesson. Hawkey dominated from the onset and landed some huge punches to the body and head that shook Henderson, before he finished the fight with an arm-bar midway through round one.
The return to the cage of Gauteng legend Neil Diesel produced a fine display of MMA, stopping a tough Donald Nzirawa from East London by TKO in round one.
Bryanston businessman Denzil Wait produced the fight of the night against a tough Loukie Botha from Bloemfontein. They stood toe-to-toe for two and a half rounds before Wait landed a series of blows to Botha that ended the fight by TKO. At the end Wait’s exceptional conditioning and fitness level made the difference.
Fight Force will be back on 15 July with another action-packed lineup.
Details: www.fightforce.co.za.
sc@caxton.co.za