{"id":90277,"date":"2026-02-10T15:04:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=90277"},"modified":"2026-02-10T15:04:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:04:52","slug":"hosts-and-eastern-cape-schools-shine-at-saints-squash-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=90277","title":{"rendered":"Hosts and Eastern Cape schools shine at Saints Squash Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SA
SA u17 champion, Dean Katzin, led an impressive St Andrew’s School A team with distinction at the Saints Squash Festival. Photo: Supplied.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Selborne College<\/strong> confirmed their status as the number one squash team in South Africa with an unbeaten run at the Saints Squash Festival<\/strong>, in Bloemfontein,\u00a0over the weekend.<\/p>\n

They didn’t have matters all their own way, however, with the hosts, St Andrew’s School<\/strong>, pushing them all the way.<\/p>\n

When the sides met in the last of their five matches on Sunday, both sported clean records. St Andrew’s had accounted for Michaelhouse<\/strong> (6-0), Ho\u00ebrskool Zwartkop<\/strong> (5-1), Grey High<\/strong> (4-2), and Pretoria Boys High<\/strong> (5-1), while Selborne owned wins over Pretoria Boys High<\/strong> (4-2), St John’s College A<\/strong> (4-2), Maritzburg College<\/strong> (6-0), and Ho\u00ebrskool Zwartkop<\/strong> (4-2).<\/p>\n

Interestingly, in their two matches against common opponents – Pretoria Boys High and Zwartkop – St Andrew’s had scored slightly better wins, but Selborne owned the slimmest edge on Sunday. The contest hinged on the battle of the number threes, which went to 2-2 before Selborne clinched the vital third game, which lifted them to an overall 4-2 margin of victory.<\/p>\n

St Andrew’s, led by SA u17 champion Dean Katzin<\/strong><\/a>, will, however, take many positives away from their showing. The Bloemfontein school’s side doesn’t contain a matric learner, which suggests they will be serious contenders for the next two years at least, with Katzin at the forefront of their challenge.<\/p>\n

He was beaten only once, by Grey High’s Benji Newman<\/strong>, who was already one of the top u19 players in the country in 2025. Grey High, though, went down to St Andrew’s School A, St John’s College, and Zwartkop, all by 2-4 margins. They beat both Maritzburg College and Michaelhouse 5-1.<\/p>\n

When Juan-Corn\u00e9 Brand<\/strong> returns from injury to the Zwartkop ranks, they will bear watching. Zwarries<\/strong><\/em> lost three times – to St Andrew’s School, Grey College<\/strong>, and Selborne. They won 5-1 against Westville Boys’ High<\/strong> and 4-2 against Grey High, but the return of Brand and the impact that will have on their match-ups when he takes over their number one spot will be telling.<\/p>\n

Some other Eastern Cape schools enjoyed good showings. Graeme College<\/strong>, a young, talented side, beat St Stithians College<\/strong> (5-1) and Kearsney College<\/strong> (6-0). They also drew 3-3 with Maritzburg College and Michaelhouse, but went down to St John’s College A (1-5).<\/p>\n

Kingswood College<\/strong>, meanwhile, was one of the pleasant surprises. They beat Kearsney (5-1), King Edward VII (KES)<\/strong> (6-0), St Andrew’s School B (6-0), and Maritzburg College (4-2). They also shared a 3-3 draw with Pretoria Boys High.<\/p>\n

Queen’s College<\/strong>, too, enjoyed a good run.\u00a0They rolled to a 6-0 win over Paarl Gimnasium<\/strong>, beat Westville Boys’ High 4-2, whitewashed Kearsney 6-0, and drew 3-3 with both St John’s College A and Pretoria Boys High.<\/p>\n

St John’s showed off their depth. Like St Andrew’s School, they also fielded a B team. The St John’s College A side, playing a challenging schedule, beat Grey High (4-2), went down against Selborne (2-4), won against Graeme (5-1), drew with Queen’s (3-3), and beat Grey College (4-2).<\/p>\n

Grey College, nonetheless, put together a good body of work, suggesting that they’ll give St Andrew’s School a tough fight for the Free State’s place in the Top Schools<\/strong> <\/a>tournament later in the season. Apart from their hard-fought loss to St John’s A, Grey beat Zwartkop (5-1), St Stithians (6-0), and Michaelhouse (5-1). They also went down 2-4 against Pretoria Boys High.<\/p>\n

RESULTS
\n<\/strong>(Games in brackets, matches in the middle)<\/p>\n

Round One<\/strong>
\nSt Andrew’s School A (18) 6-0 (0) Michaelhouse
\nSt Andrew’s School B (16) 5-1 (3) St Andrew’s College
\nMaritzburg College (13) 4-2 (7) KES
\nSelborne College (17) 4-2 (6) Pretoria Boys High
\nZwartkop (8) 1-5 (16) Grey College
\nGraeme (15) 5-1 (5) St Stithians
\nKearsney (6) 1-5 (16) Kingswood
\nQueen’s (18) 6-0 (4) Paarl Gimnasium
\nSt Andrew’s Invitation (13) 3-3 (9) Hilton College
\nGrey High (10) 2-4 (13) St John’s College A
\nGrey College Invitation (6) 1-5 (15) St John’s College B
\nWestville Boys’ High (18) 6-0 (1) Parktown Boys’ High<\/p>\n

Round Two
\n<\/strong>St Andrew’s School A (17) 5-1 (6) Zwartkop
\nSt Andrew’s School B (12) 4-2 (8) Parktown Boys’ High
\nSelborne College (12) 4-2 (9) St John’s College A
\nPaarl Gimnasium (16) 4-2 (9) St John’s College B
\nKearsney (9) 3-3 (9) St Stithians
\nKingswood (18) 6-0 KES (0)
\nMichaelhouse (4) 1-5 (15) Grey High
\nPretoria Boys High (13) 4-2 (9) Grey College
\nGraeme (11) 3-3 (10) Maritzburg College
\nQueen’s (14) 4-2 (10) Westville Boys’ High
\nSt Andrew’s College (7) 2-4 (14) Hilton College<\/p>\n

Round Three<\/strong>
\nSt Andrew’s School A (13) 4-2 (8) Grey High
\nSt Andrew’s School B (9) 3-3 (13) Paarl Gimnasium
\nSelborne College (18) 6-0 (0) Maritzburg College
\nKES (1) 0-6 (18) Michaelhouse
\nKingswood (12) 3-3 (10) Pretoria Boys’ High
\nZwartkop (15) 5-1 (5) Westville Boys’ High
\nKearsney (2) 0-6 (18) Queen’s
\nSt John’s College A (16) 5-1 (7) Graeme College
\nSt John’s College B (18) 6-0 (3) St Andrew’s College
\nHilton College (13) 4-2 (6) Parktown Boys’ High
\nGrey College (18) 6-0 (0) St Stithians<\/p>\n

Round Four<\/strong>
\nSt Andrew’s School A (15) 5-1 (6) Pretoria Boys High
\nSt Andrew’s School B (2) 0-6 (18) Kingswood
\nQueen’s (9) 3-3 (11) St John’s College A
\nWestville Boys’ High (17) 4-2 (4) St John’s College B
\nGrey College (16) 5-1 (6) Michaelhouse
\nSelborne (13) 4-2 (7) Zwartkop
\nGrey High (17) 5-1 (3) Maritzburg College)
\nSt Andrew’s College (3) 1-5 (16) St Stithians
\nGraeme (18) 6-0 (1) Kearsney
\nKES (13) 3-3 (14) Hilton College
\nPaarl Gimnasium (18) 6-0 (1) Parktown Boys’ High<\/p>\n

Round Five<\/strong>
\nSt Andrew’s School A (8) 2-4 (16) Selborne
\nSt Andrew’s School B (5) 1-5 (17) Kearsney
\nSt John’s College A (13) 4-2 (11) Grey College
\nSt John’s College B (11) 3-3 (15) Hilton College
\nMaritzburg College (7) 2-4 (12) Kingswood
\nParktown Boys’ High (12) 4-2 (6) St Andrew’s College
\nMichaelhouse (12) 3-3 (14) Graeme
\nQueen’s (11) 3-3 (9) Pretoria Boys High
\nZwartkop (12) 4-2 (7) Grey High
\nPaarl Gimnasium (17) 5-1 (8) KES
\nSt Stithians 2-4 Westville Boys High<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Selborne College confirmed their status as the number one squash team in South Africa with an unbeaten run at the Saints Squash Festival, in Bloemfontein,\u00a0over the weekend. They didn’t have matters all their own way, however, with the hosts, St Andrew’s School, pushing them all the way. When the sides met in the last of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":90279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90277","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\/90277","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=90277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/90279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}