Zimbabwe greatest sports stars of all time top 10 list Part 2
Zimbabwe’s greatest sports stars of all time top 10 list:
Top 10 in numbers
5. Andy Flower
Born in Cape Town, Andy Flower grew up in Zimbabwe. Educated at Vainona High School Andy is considered by many as the most successful cricketer to come out of Zimbabwe. Flower made his debut in a One day international encounter against Sri-Lanka at the 1992 world cup held in New Zealand.
The older of the Flower brothers kept wickets for Zimbabwe for more than ten years and is statistically by far the most successful batsman the country has ever produced. Having played 63 tests Flower averaged 51.54 runs. On the one-day international arena Andy played 213 matches averaging 35.34 runs.
He had two stints as Zimbabwe captain, leading them to their first Test victory against Pakistan in 1994-95, and then becoming the first Zimbabwean to lead a Test tour of England, in 2000. An assured player of fast bowling since his early days as an opener, Flower matured into one of the best players of spin in the world, and on the Indian tour early in 2001 he made 540 runs for twice out.
The elder of two Test-playing brothers, Andy Flower was so phenomenally consistent that many argue he has no rival as the best player in Zimbabwe’s history. When asked about Andy Flower cricket commentator and analyst Dean Duplesis said, “Its one thing when you average 50 runs in a test match, but the more modern cricketers like Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke and so on have a lot of team players who play around them as well whereas Andy Flower nine times out of ten would perform, it is very seldom that you would see other batsman contribute like Andy Flower did. Not only did he score consistent runs but there was a bigger and a broader picture to Flower who also tried to make sure he batted responsibly by trying to hold the innings together and also making sure the scoreboard kept ticking”.
4. Peter Ndlovu
Arguably Zimbabwe’s greatest footballer of all time Peter Ndlovu makes it at number 4. Born and bred in Bulawayo Peter Ndlovu played High School football at Mzilikazi. Ndlovu then became a household name after featuring for Highlanders as a teenager before being spotted by Coventry City who lured him to the English Premiership.
For the Warriors Peter Ndlovu was a loyal servant contributing immensely to Zimbabwe’s maiden qualification at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations staged in Tunisia as well as a second appearance at the 2006 tournament in Egypt.
Quote: “He is the greatest warrior player to don that warriors jersey. He also serves the record of the longest serving African player in England having played for 13 years. He is also only one of two men to score a Hatrick at Anfield against Liverpool one of the greatest giants of European football. He use to turn a match single handedly when the chips were down he could weave his magic and score for the warriors. He use to score some great goals and he is still the highest ever scorer for the warriors with 38 goals to his name”. – Charles Mabika
Quote: “Peter Ndlovu was an exceptionally brilliant individual. If he hit top form then you would know that the opponent would be destroyed”. – Stanley Katsande
3. Nick Price
Nick Price turned pro in 1977 and established himself as a promising newcomer first on the Southern African Tour and European PGA Tour where he won four tournaments through 1982. Price graduated to the PGA TOUR in 1983 when he went wire-to-wire to defeat Jack Nicklaus by two strokes at the World Series of Golf for his first TOUR victory. In 1991 Price won the Byron Nelson Classic and the Canadian Open.
In 1993, Price won four PGA TOUR events, including THE PLAYERS Championship, and was named PGA TOUR Player of the Year. He won the Vardon Trophy and the Arnold Palmer Award as the PGA Tour’s leading money winner. Price then turned in one of golf’s great seasons in 1994, winning six times, including the British Open and PGA Championship. He again led the money list and was named Player of the Year for the second year running. In August 1994 Price was ranked the world’s No. 1 golfer, a position he held for 43 consecutive weeks, a stretch that since then, has only been bettered by Tiger Woods.
No one won more PGA Tour tournaments, fifteen, in the 90’s than Nick Price. He also won an additional 12 international events in that decade. Price is one of only three players in the 1990s to win two major titles in the same season, joining Nick Faldo in 1990 and Mark O’Meara in 1998. He is one of only seven players since 1945 to capture consecutive majors (Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods). Winning three major tournaments .
2. Cara Black
Zimbabwe’s tennis legend Cara Black captured her first WTA doubles crown in the year 2000. Black matured into a top doubles player winning seven WTA crowns in 2001 as she broke into the top 10. In 2002 Black won two WTA doubles titles and her first Grand Slam mixed doubles title at Roland Garros. 2003 would see Zimbabwe’s tennis queen winning two WTA doubles titles. 2004 proved to be a great year for Cara who won seven WTA doubles titles including the prestigious Wimbledon doubles crown. The Zimbabwean also captured the Wimbledon mixed doubles title after partnering with her older brother Wayne.
Zimbabwe’s tennis star continued to land titles in 2005 winning six WTA doubles crowns including at Wimbledon with Liezel Huber. Cara’s dominance would see her becoming Africa’s first woman to reach number 1 in the women’s doubles arena. Cara won two further WTA crowns in 2007 before powering to nine WTA doubles titles including the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the WTA championships.
2008 was a second No.1 doubles season for Black after winning 10 WTA doubles titles including the US Open and WTA Championships. The same year Zimbabwe’s tennis sensation won her third grand slam mixed doubles title at the US Open with Leander Paes. In 2009 Black captured five WTA crowns before scooping three WTA titles in 2010. Cara won her fourth and fifth Grand Slam mixed doubles titles at Australian Open and Wimbledon both with Paes. Black won 6 WTA titles in the years 2-13 and 2014.
1. Kirsty Coventry
Born in Harare Coventry attended Dominican Convent High School. While still in High School Coventry reached the semi-finals of the 100m backstroke at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The same year Coventry would land the sportswoman of the year award.
After her Sydney success Coventry left for College in the United states in 2001. In the years spent at College Coventry won 7 NCAA Titles, 14 SEC Titles and was named NCAA Female Swimmer of the year. At the 2004 Athens Olympics won gold in the 200m backstroke, silver in the 100m backstroke, and bronze in the 200m individual medley. The swimming icon would carry her Olympic form to the world championships in Montreal as she won several medals which helped her scoop the Female Swimmer of the meet award.
In 2008 Coventry’s rise continued after setting a new world record at the Missouri grand Prix after registering a time of 2:06.39 in the 200m backstroke category. Coventry went onto to compete at the World Short Course Championships in Manchester where she broke three world records in the 400m individual medley, 200 individual medley and 200m backstroke.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics the African swimmer set new world records in the 100m and 200m backstroke events. With three silver and one gold medal in the bag, Zimbabwe’s queen of the waters was rewarded for her efforts in Beijing when President Robert Mugabe gave Coventry $50 000 along with a diplomatic passport. At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Coventry won a gold and silver medal. She powered to the 200m backstroke world title with a world record time and came second in the 400m individual medley.
