{"id":57920,"date":"2024-09-25T12:53:24","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T10:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=57920"},"modified":"2024-09-25T12:53:24","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T10:53:24","slug":"its-tough-to-call-as-sacs-defends-clifton-water-polo-tournament-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=57920","title":{"rendered":"It’s tough to call as SACS defends Clifton Water Polo Tournament title"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Oliver
Oliver Ditz helped Clifton to third place in the 2023 Clifton Water Polo Tournament. Now, the captain of the 2024 Clifton side, he and goalkeeper Ross Strauss represented South Africa at the World Aquatics Men’s u18 Water Polo Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clifton College<\/strong>‘s picturesque Clifton Aquatics Centre<\/strong> to set to be lit up by some of the country’s top teams when the Durban school hosts the Clifton Water Polo Tournament<\/strong> from Thursday, 26 September, to Sunday, 29 September.<\/p>\n

Catch the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

It’s early days in the season, but Northwood<\/strong>, Hilton College<\/strong>, SACS<\/strong>, Grey College<\/strong>, Paul Roos<\/strong>, Selborne<\/strong>, St John’s College<\/strong>, and the hosts, Clifton<\/strong>, all head into the tournament with plenty of games under their belts from the past weekend’s SACS Water Polo Tournament<\/a><\/strong>, where St John’s fell in the final to Bishops.<\/p>\n

Those schools are joined by Affies<\/strong>, Michaelhouse<\/strong>, Kearsney College<\/strong>, Maritzburg College<\/strong>, Westville Boys’ High<\/strong>, King Edward VII School (KES)<\/strong>, Reddam House Constantia,<\/strong> and Durban High School (DHS)<\/strong> in a high-quality line-up.<\/p>\n

Based on their form at SACS, St John’s, who won eight of their nine pool games to finish top of their group, before progressing to the final, should be considered the favourites, but is far from an open and shut case.<\/p>\n

While the SACS tournament has accelerated the process of teams gelling, it also placed serious demands on the players over four days of top-level competition. Fatigue could become a factor during the Clifton Water Polo Tournament.<\/p>\n

Back at home, coach Paul Martin<\/strong> and his Clifton side are a tough out for any opposition. They don’t boast the consistent excellence of their very experienced 2023 team, but if they click they have the quality to go all the way.<\/p>\n

Much like Clifton, the defending champions, SACS, are not as consistently outstanding as they were in a memorable 2023 season. Still, they won the SAC Shield in January<\/a><\/strong>. And, if we’re talking about tournament victories, we should mention Clifton winning the Vides Water Polo Tournament<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Taking a further look into the results at the recent SACS Tournament, Hilton College was the best of the KZN teams, reaching the quarterfinals where they were edged out by St John’s, who recorded a 4-3 win. They also beat Clifton 5-2 in a Pool B clash.<\/p>\n

Paul Roos, last year’s runners-up in the Clifton Water Polo Tournament, also bowed out in the quarters, going down 5-6 to Rondebosch, who had finished top of Pool B.<\/p>\n

Selborne and Clifton just missed out on the last eight. It was Selborne that Clifton beat in the final of the Vides Water Polo Tournament, but Selborne tasted success when they won the Grey College ITEC Water Polo Tournament<\/a> <\/strong>in February for a second year in succession.<\/p>\n

Northwood, meanwhile, came out on the wrong end of a number of one-goal games in Cape Town, which suggests, with a slight improvement and a touch of luck, they could make some noise in Durban.<\/p>\n

Another team to keep an eye on is Kearsney College. It has been a very good year for the Botha’s Hill boys, highlighted by them winning the Reef Cup<\/a><\/strong> in March.<\/p>\n

Affies, the beaten finalists at the ITEC Tournament, is another team that could spring a surprise or two, while KES, who finished only 12th in the Clifton event last year, finished above Westville Boys’ High, Selborne, Clifton and Northwood at the Standard Bank King Edward VII Water Polo Tournament<\/a><\/strong> in March. Beware the bear!<\/p>\n

The aforementioned Westville has produced some outstanding players in recent years, but they haven’t quite put it together as a team. Is this the year they do?<\/p>\n

Don’t count out any of the other sides. They might not make it all the way, but there will surely be an upset or two in them.<\/p>\n

POOLS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A \u2013 Northwood, Hilton, SACS, Grey College
\nPool B \u2013 Affies, Michaelhouse, Kearsney, Paul Roos
\nPool C \u2013 Selborne, Maritzburg College, Westville, St John\u2019s
\nPool D \u2013 KES, Clifton, Reddam House Constantia, DHS<\/p>\n

FiXTURES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday, 26 September<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 \u2013 08:00 \u2013 Michaelhouse vs Kearsney (B)
\n2 \u2013 08:45 \u2013 Maritzburg College vs St John\u2019s (C)
\n3 \u2013 09:30 \u2013 Clifton vs DHS (D)
\n4 \u2013 10:15 \u2013 Northwood vs Hilton (A)
\n5 \u2013 11:00 \u2013 Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse (B)
\n6 \u2013 11:45 \u2013 KES vs Reddam (D)
\n7 \u2013 12:30 \u2013 Westville vs Maritzburg College (C)
\n8 \u2013 13:15 \u2013 SACS vs Grey College (A)
\n9 \u2013 14:00 \u2013 Selborne vs St John\u2019s (C)
\n10 \u2013 14:45 \u2013 Affies vs Kearsney (B)
\n11 \u2013 15:30 \u2013 Reddam vs DHS (D)
\n12 \u2013 16:15 \u2013 Hilton vs Grey College (A)
\n13 \u2013 17:00 \u2013 Selborne vs Westville (C)
\n14 \u2013 17:45 \u2013 Clifton vs KES (D)
\n15 \u2013 18:30 \u2013 SACS vs Northwood (A)
\n16 \u2013 19:15 \u2013 Affies vs Paul Roos (B)<\/p>\n

Friday, 27 September<\/strong><\/p>\n

17 \u2013 08:00 \u2013 KES vs DHS (D)
\n18 \u2013 08:45 \u2013 Kearsney vs Paul Roos (B)
\n19 \u2013 09:30 \u2013 Northwood vs Grey College (A)
\n20 \u2013 10:15 \u2013 Clifton vs Reddam (D)
\n21 \u2013 11:00 \u2013 Selborne vs Maritzburg College (C)
\n22 \u2013 11:45 \u2013 Affies vs Michaelhouse (B)
\n23 \u2013 12:30 \u2013 Hilton vs SACS (A)
\n24 \u2013 13:15 \u2013 Westville vs St John\u2019s (C)<\/p>\n

25 \u2013 14:45 \u2013 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool C
\n26 \u2013 15:30 \u2013 2nd Pool B vs 3rd Pool D
\n27 \u2013 16:15 \u2013 3rd Pool A vs 2nd Pool C
\n28 \u2013 17:00 \u2013 3rd Pool B vs 2nd Pool D
\n29 \u2013 17:45 \u2013 Loser 25 vs 4th Pool D
\n30 \u2013 18:30 \u2013 Loser 26 vs 4th Pool A<\/p>\n

Saturday, 28 September<\/strong><\/p>\n

31 \u2013 08:00 \u2013 Loser 27 vs 4th Pool B
\n32 \u2013 08:45 \u2013 Loser 28 vs 4th Pool C
\n33 \u2013 09:30 \u2013 1st Pool A vs Winner 26 (QF 1)
\n34 \u2013 10:30 \u2013 1st Pool B vs Winner 25 (QF 2)
\n35 \u2013 11:30 \u2013 1st Pool C vs Winner 28 (QF 3)
\n36 \u2013 12:30 \u2013 1st Pool D vs Winner 27 (QF 4)
\n37 \u2013 13:30 \u2013 Winner 29 vs Winner 30
\n38 \u2013 14:15 \u2013 Winner 31 vs Winner 32
\n39 \u2013 15:00 \u2013 Loser 29 vs Loser 30
\n40 \u2013 15:45 \u2013 Loser 31 vs Loser 32
\n41 \u2013 16:30 \u2013 Loser 33 vs Loser 35 (PL SF 1)
\n42 \u2013 17:15 \u2013 Loser 34 vs Loser 36 (PL SF 2)
\n43 \u2013 18:00 \u2013 Winner 33 vs Winner 35 (SF 1)
\n44 \u2013 19:00 \u2013 Winner 34 vs Winner 36 (SF 2)<\/p>\n

Sunday, 29 September<\/strong><\/p>\n

45 \u2013 07:00 \u2013 Loser 40 vs Loser 39 (15th\/16th)
\n46 \u2013 07:45 \u2013 Winner 40 vs Winner 39 (13th\/14th)
\n47 \u2013 08:30 \u2013 Loser 37 vs Loser 38 (11th\/12th)
\n48 \u2013 09:15 \u2013 Winner 37 vs Winner 38 (9th\/10th)
\n49 \u2013 10:00 \u2013 Loser 41 vs Loser 42 (7th\/8th)
\n50 \u2013 10:45 \u2013 Winner 41 vs Winner 42 (5th\/6th)
\n51 \u2013 11:30 \u2013 Loser 44 vs Loser 43 (3rd\/4th)
\n52 \u2013 12:30 \u2013 Winner 44 vs Winner 43 (1st\/2nd)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clifton College‘s picturesque Clifton Aquatics Centre to set to be lit up by some of the country’s top teams when the Durban school hosts the Clifton Water Polo Tournament from Thursday, 26 September, to Sunday, 29 September. Catch the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools It’s early days in the season, but Northwood, Hilton College, SACS, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":36071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}