In Prague on 8 June he was beaten into second place by Britains David Greene who ran a massive personal best of 48.62sec. In Bydgoszcz, Van Zyl, who trains under Nico Van Heerden at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, just outdipped Greene.

“I had a bad last hurdle and had to dip to beat Greene, but I’m improving and that’s what counts,” said Van Zyl. “Now I’m coming home to train until July before I go over to Europe again.”

Despite his loss to Greene in Prague, Van Zyl claimed the scalps of European Champion Perikles Iakovakis and Danny McFarlane who finished 4^th at the Beijing Olympics, one ahead of Van Zyl.

In Bydgoszcz, Van Zyl again claimed the scalp of McFarlane, but also that of former Olympic Champion Felix Sanchez and dangerman Marek Plawgo. All good for the confidence.