WHILE some highly worthy finalists were yesterday named for the 2014 SA Sports Awards - jumper Khotso Mokoena, hurdler Cornel Fredericks, the Blitz Boks and javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen - there was no room for SA's world champion rowers.
Last year cycling star Daryl Impey was overlooked for this annual razzmatazz showpiece, and this time it was James Thompson and John Smith.
The duo, both members of the fours crew that won Olympic gold in 2012, bagged SA's first world championship gold medal, winning the lightweight double sculls in a world record time.
But they could not crack this list. And goodness knows what Roger Barrow will have to do to earn a nomination as coach of the year - his national squad won gold and bronze at this year's world championships, and five crews in total made A-finals.
The nominees in that category are Shakes Mashaba, presumably for getting the SA under-20 team to qualify for the African Youth Championships, SA swimming guru Graham Hill and Neil Powell, coach of the SA rugby sevens team, the Commonwealth Games champions.
Chad le Clos, Mokoena and Fredericks are the nominees for Sportsman of the Year, alongside Greg Minnaar, the mountain bike downhill world champion last year.
Le Clos, who won seven Commonwealth Games medals in Glasgow, and Mokoena, who has starred at both triple and long jump this season, are also nominated for the Sports Star award, which is voted for by the public.
Their competitors are Boston Marathon king Ernst van Dyk, Banyana Banyana goalscoring star Portia Modise, Proteas captain AB de Villiers and Springbok eighthman Duane Vermeulen.
Van Dyk is also nominated in the Sportsman with a Disability category, with Lucas Sithole and Nicholas Pieter du Preez.
The three Sportswoman nominees are all Commonwealth Games medallists - javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen (silver), wrestler Mpho Madi and cyclist Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (both bronze).
The awards take place on November 30 at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Some of the nominees:
Sportsman of the Year:
Chad le Clos, Greg Minnaar, Khotso Mokoena, Cornel Fredericks
Sportsman of the Year with Disability: Lucas Sithole, Ernst Francois Van Dyk, Nicholas Pieter du Preez
Sportswoman of the Year: Sunette Viljoen, Mpho Madi, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio
Sportswoman of the Year with Disability:
Justine Asher, Kgothatso Montjane, Adri Visser
Team of the Year:
Springbok Sevens, Lawn Bowls, SA under-19 cricket team Newcomer of the Year: Wayde van Niekerk , Gezelle Magerman, Rivaldo Coetzee
Coach of the Year:
Shakes Mashaba, Graham Hill, Neil Powell
School Team of the Year:
Vorentoe High School, Harmony High School, Paarl Gimnasium Hoerskool
Indigenous Games Star of the Year
Inthonga - KwaZulu-Natal, Drie Stokkies - North West, Ncuva - Limpopo
SA Sports Star of the Year: Ernst Van Dyk, Chad le Clos, Portia Modise, Khotso Mokoena, AB De Villiers and Duane Vermeulen