It’s a sad truth that for every South African sports hero receiving hours of television coverage and reams of print media exposure there are dozens of unsung sport heroes who’ve climbed to the top of their sport, sometimes with great effort and against many odds.

One sport with quite a few unsung heroes is wheelchair tennis. Having lost three limbs – his right hand and both legs – at a very young age, he is today a tennis player of international standard.

Lucas

This is from a press release about a recent tournament Lucas played in:

Another very proud moment for Mzansi was Lucas Sithole’s conquest over
Adam Field from Great Britain.  Sithole was seeded 2nd in the tournament
and Field’s number 1 position had the SA spectators nervously clutching
their seats in the first set as players battled it out game for game.
Sithole is known for his unrelenting fighting spirit that far surpasses
any of his peers in the South Africa squad; and true to form this
KZN-born champion took the first nail biting set 7-6.  With a tightly
contested match Sithole knew that he had to pull away from his opponent
as soon as possible in the second set to gain advantage.  As the highest
world ranked South African player, the county’s hopes were fulfilled,
and pride secured when the incredibly focused triple amputee took the
second set 6-3.  Playing only with his left hand,  the crowds couldn’t
have been more excited by his performance, and Sithole’s win meant a
second tournament title would be kept on home soil with the 7-6 6-3
victory. The scoreboard however did not reflect the unyielding effort of
our player and the collective pride that swelled the chests of all the
South African supporters.

Wow. This guy should be a national hero.

Rating 3.00 out of 5