South Africa's golf and athletics teams injected some extra energy into the nation's campaign on day six of the World Student Games in Gwangju, getting off to cracking starts as their codes kicked off on Wednesday.

The three-man golf squad was spearhead by Teaghan Gauche, who produced a spectacular four-under-par total of 68 in the first round, settling in second place, just one shot behind leader Natipong Srithong of Thailand.

Jason Smith was lying in a tie for 33rd position and Andrew van der Knaap was tied for 38th, with the SA team in seventh spot overall heading into Thursday's second round.

The track and field contingent was equally impressive, with a host of athletes coasting into semifinals and finals. 

Sprint sensation Akani Simbine cruised through the second round of the men's 100m sprint, winning his heat in 10.26 to qualify for the semifinals.

Lindsay Hanekom (51.19) and Le Roux Hamman (51.55) coasted through the opening round of the men's 400m hurdles, booking their places in the semifinals.

Middle distance runner Anuscha Nice also had no trouble in getting through to her semifinals, Nice was third in her 800m heat in 2:05.47.

Mpho Links was one of 13 men to leap over 2.15m in the high jump qualifiers, securing his place in the final.

Earlier, in the morning session, Jon Seeliger (47.89) progressed to the men's 400m semifinals, to be held on Friday.

In the pool, four swimmers progressed beyond the morning heats, though all four were eliminated in the semifinals of their events.  Martin Binedell finished 11th overall in the men's 200m backstroke in 2:01.55, Nico Mayer ended 13th in the men's 100m butterfly in 53.57 and Marko Visser was ranked 15th in the 50m breaststroke, touching the wall in 28.11.

The SA women's football team lost 3-0 to Chinese Taipei in their first playoff match, and they will turn out in the lower-tier classification games over the weekend.

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