Cape Town - Sport24's chief writer, Rob Houwing, has won the New Media Contributor of the Year category at the annual SAB Awards in Johannesburg on Monday night.

Rob's three submissions - “Final Fever/Dutch Stars” (Blog), “Beware the Bouquets” and “SWC Sadness” saw him pip fellow Sport24 colleague Tank Lanning and SuperSport presenter Matt Pearce to the title.

Houwing is an experienced sports journalist and this know-how is reflected in his contributions in this category. The new media category requires a unique style of writing, but it is difficult to get the balance right between this and conventional sports writing.

Houwing achieves this balance with a relaxed, easy to read style. Whether tackling serious issues or delivering a tongue in cheek account on a subject, Houwing retains the ability to both inform and captivate. He is also extremely versatile and his offerings cover a wide range of sport. In a fast-growing of sports journalism, Houwing has certainly made his mark.

Speaking of versatility, this award sees Houwing come full circle in terms of multi-media, having previously won a merit award as a newspaper journalist and the SAB feature writer award as a magazine journalist.

Finalists in this category:

•  Rob Houwing (Sport24) for “Final Fever/Dutch Stars” (Blog), “Beware the Bouquets” and “SWC Sadness”.
•  Andrew Lanning (Sport24) for “De Villiers Exposed Badly”, “End of Smit Experiment” and “Front Row Grunt - Q&A Shane Williams”.
•  Matthew Pearce (SuperSport) “Matt Pearce on tour – Rugby Diaries”.