Noordheuwel se 18-jarige Kiara van Eeden het reeds merkwaardige prestasies in haar netballoopbaan op skool behaal.
Sy is in haar matriekjaar gekies vir Suid-Afrika se o.21-span (Baba Proteas) en het ook die nasionale o.16-span verteenwoordig wat ‘n goue medalje by die Afrika-spele in 2022 verower het.
Daarbenewens het sy ‘n sleutelrol gespeel in die o.18 Fast Five-span wat ‘n silwermedalje by die Statebond-jeugspele in 2023 ingepalm het.
Die matriekleerder aan Hoërskool Noordheuwel is bekend vir haar veelsydigheid op die baan. Terwyl sy hoofsaaklik as ‘n hulpverdediger diens doen, is sy ook vaardig in die posisies van hulpdoel en senter.
Sy vertel dat haar passie vir netbal as ‘n klein dogtertjie posgevat het, terwyl sy ure langs die baan deurgebring waar haar suster gespeel en geoefen het, en op slegs vyf-jarige ouderdom het sy reeds vir die eerste keer mini-netbal gespeel.
Vir Kiara is netbal meer as bloot ‘n sport; dis haar “gelukkige plek”, waar sy die meeste soos haarself voel.
“Netbal is deel van my DNS,” erken sy.
“Ek kan nie my lewe daarsonder indink nie. Die opgewondenheid wat ek voel wanneer ek die baan betree, kan ek nie beskryf nie.
“Ek geniet elke uitdaging, om op my voete te dink, om die spel te lees en om onderskeppings te probeer maak.”
Laasgenoemde is ‘n gebied waarop sy werklik uitblink.
Haar reis was egter nie sonder uitdagings nie. Kiara het ‘n moeilike tyd beleef toe sy harsingskudding opgedoen het in ‘n vriendskaplike wedstryd twee dae voor die Menlo-netbaltoernooi.
“Noordheuwel speel elke jaar aan die begin van die seisoen in hierdie toernooi, en dit sou my laaste Menlo-toernooi gewees het. Weens my besering kon ek nie speel nie, wat hartverskeurend was. Ek moes van die kantlyn toekyk, maar ek het my span deur die hele toernooi ondersteun.”
Kiara kyk op na die voormalige Protea-netbalspeler Karla Pretorius en droom daarvan om eendag die Protea-netbalrok te dra.
“Netbal is my passie, en ek hoop om ’n loopbaan daarvan te maak,” sê sy.
Sy besef dat haar harde werk alleen nié tot haar sukses sou gelei het nie en vertel dat die ondersteuning van haar afrigters, ouers, suster en vriende ‘n reuse rol gespeel het.
“Hul aanmoediging het ‘n deurslaggewende rol gespeel om my te help om die sleutelmylpale in my hoërskool-netballoopbaan te bereik.”
Kimberley Boys’ High pushed the defending champions, St Stithians, all the way in the Cup semi-finals before losing out on penalties. Photo: Kimberley Boys’ High on Facebook.
Who will be crowned the champions of the Nedbank Grey Soccer Tournament? That question is on the verge of being answered.
Following three days of intense competition, the final match of the Nedbank Grey Soccer Tournament is scheduled for Tuesday, 24 September, and it will bring the curtain down on the 2024 edition of the prestigious event. St Stithians College, the defending champions, will face Robinvale in the Cup final.
Saints made it all the way through to the main game despite suffering defeats in their first two matches, which speaks volumes about their mental toughness.
On day one, they went down to the hosts, Grey College, losing 1-2 and were, then, also beaten 2-0 by Pretoria Boys High. with no more room for error, they grafted their way through their remaining games until they eventually booked a semi-final showdown with Kimberley Boys’ High.
That contest finished 1-1 before St Stithians advanced 4-2 from the spot, which was, coincidently, the score in the Cup final penalty shootout of 2023, when they got by HTS Louis Botha after the teams had shared a goalless draw.
Their adversaries in the final, Robinvale scored a 2-1 win over Wynberg Boys’ High in their semi-final match. Robinvale had impressed in Group D, where they grabbed top spot, but they were given a hard workout by the boys from Cape Town.
In addition to the gold medal match, the Bowl and Plate finals and playoffs will also take place on Tuesday, with the final rankings to be decided. A match between the coastal and inland coaches will be played just before the Cup final.
RESULTS
Bowl Quarterfinals
Durban High School 4-1 Curro Bloemfontein
Victoria Park 4-0 Glenwood High School
Empangeni High School (3) 1-1 (2) Bloemfontein South
King Edward VII School 6-0 St Andrew’s School
Bowl Semi-finals
King Edward VII School 2-1 Durban High School
Empangeni High School 2-0 Victoria Park
St Andrews Bloemfontein (Loser L) (4) 3- 3 (3) Curro Bloemfontein (Loser I)
Bloemfontein South (Loser K) 3-2 Glenwood High School (Loser J)
Plate Quarterfinals
George Royal Academy 2-0 Parktown Boys’ High School
Jeppe High School for Boys 2-1 Pretoria Boys High School
Hodisa Technical High School 4-0 St David’s Marist Inanda
Norkem Park High School 1-0 HTS Louis Botha
Plate Semi-finals
George Royal Academy 2-0 Norkem Park High School
Jeppe High School for Boys 6-0 Hodisa Technical High School
HTS Louis Botha (Loser H) 3-1 Parktown Boys’ High (Loser E)
Pretoria Boys High (Loser F) 4-2 St David’s Marist Inanda (Loser G)
Cup Quarterfinals
Wynberg Boys’ High 1-0 Grey College
St Stithians College 4-0 Brebner High School
Kimberley Boys’ High (4) 1- 1 (1) Navalsig
Robinvale 2-0 Westville Boys’ High
Cup Semi-finals
Robinvale 2-1 Wynberg Boys’ High
St Stithians College (4) 1- 1 (2) Kimberley Boys’ High
Grey College (Loser A) 2-1 Westville Boys’ High (Loser D)
Navalsig (Loser B) 2-0 Brebner High School (Loser C)
Day 4: Playoffs
17/18 Bowl Final
Field 1. 08:00 – King Edward VII School vs Empangeni High School
19/20 Place
Field 2. 08:00 – Durban High School (Loser U) vs Victoria Park (Loser V)
21/22 Place
Field 1. 08:00 – St Andrew’s School (Winner W) vs Bloemfontein South (Winner X)
23/24 Place
Field 2. 08:00 – Curro Bloemfontein (Loser W) vs Glenwood High School (Loser X)
9/10 – Plate Final
Field 1. 09:30 – George Royal Academy vs Jeppe High School
11/12 Place
Field 2. 09:30 Norkem Park High School (Loser Q) vs Hodisa Technical High School (Loser R)
13/14 Place
Field 3. 09:30 HTS Louis Botha (Winner S) vs Pretoria Boys High (Winner T)
15/16 Place
Field 4. 09:30 – Parktown Boys’ High (Loser S) vs St David’s Marist Inanda (Loser T)
3/4 Place
Field 1. 11:00 – Wynberg Boys’ High (Loser M) vs Kimberley Boys’ High (Loser N)
5/6 Place
Field 2. 11:00 – Grey College (Winner O) vs Navalsig (Winner P)
7/8 Place
Field 3. 11:00 – Westville Boys’ High (Loser O) vs Brebner High School (Loser P)
Challenge Cup Final
Field 1. 14:00 – Robinvale vs St Stithians College
Chasing a challenging victory target, Westville Boys’ High took the attack to St Stithians and was rewarded with a hard-earned win.
David de Bruyn and Kyle White starred with both bat and ball as they steered Northwood to a three-wicket victory over St David’s Marist Inanda in their Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week match played in Richmond on Monday.
At the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in Pietermaritzburg, Kyle McGough struck an outstanding run-a-ball 74 to lead Westville Boys’ High to a tight three-wicket win over St Stithians in a thrilling encounter.
Northwood headed to the crease needing 253 to win after restricting St David’s to 252/9 in their 50 overs. White led the Knights‘ bowling effort, picking up a superb five-wicket haul. The Durban school, then, got home with three overs to spare.
White, who was introduced into the attack in the 12th over, conceded a mere five runs and bagged three wickets in his first three overs. Two of those wickets removed the Manack brothers, Armaan and Morteza, who had started rebuilding the St David’s innings after they were in early trouble on 35/2 after 6.5 overs.
St David’s was in danger of capitulating for a low total, but Keamogelo Phiri (54) and HaydenCampbell (51), combined for an 87-run sixth-wicket partnership, which gave the Johannesburg school a lift towards a good total.
White, who also dismissed Campbell, was Northwood’s most successful bowler with five wickets for 38 runs in 10 overs. Nqobani Mokoena, who bagged the important wicket of Phiri, finished with 2/48 from nine.
Northwood’s run chase was led by De Bruyn, who was at the crease for 41 overs of the Knights’ innings, during which he compiled a match-winning 106 from 115 deliveries (10x4s, 4×6). The opener shared the crease with six of the other eight players who batted for Northwood.
De Bruyn’s 73-run fourth-wicket stand with Kyle White was Northwood’s highest partnership, and it almost guaranteed his team a victory. Nqobani traded his bowling shoes for a bat and weighed in with an important unbeaten 29 from 23 balls.
Hayden Campbell was the pick of the bowlers for St David’s, picking up two wickets for 35 runs from six overs. Christopher Emslie bowled neatly, claiming 1/11 in four.
At UKZN, Kyle McGough hit five fours and a six for his unbeaten half-century as he led Westville’s successful run chase against St Stithians. The Griffin had missed out on the first two days of play due to bad weather and a wet outfield, but they showed no rustiness when they took on the Gauteng powerhouse.
Westville’s bowlers, led by Nicandro Kistna, restricted St Stithians to 264/7 in 50 overs. They chased that total down, chalking up 265/7 in 48.4 overs for a three-wicket win. The Westville skipper finished the match with three wickets for 36 runs in 10 overs, with all three of his victims being St Stithians’ top-order batsmen.
Kistna struck in his first over, the 13th of the innings, breaking St Stithians’ opening partnership between Pranav Raichetti (50) and Liam Mudenda (27), which had threatened to put the match firmly in control of the Johannesburg side.
Westville had to wait for 7.3 overs before they took another wicket. Again, Kistna was the wicket-taker. This time, he dismissed Emile Odendaal (27) and Raichetti in the same over. The double strike opened the door for Westville to take control of the contest. From then on, the KZN side’s bowlers took wickets at regular intervals to prevent St Stithians from taking charge.
Aidan van der Westhuizen, who scored a belligerent 69 off 43, was the only other St Stithians batsman to capitalise on his side’s solid start.
When he traded the ball for the bat, Kistna fought to give his side a sound platform upon which to build their chase, despite losing two partners in the first nine overs of the innings.
The opener would consider himself unfortunate after missing out on a half-century by just two runs. Only the bowler, Tahseen Hanslo showed enthusiasm for an LBW shout, but the umpire agreed, and Kistna was dismissed for a well-played 48 from 61 balls.
Westville’s middle order of Bashkar Sewlal, Kaeden McAllister, and Sean McGough made starts but failed to convert them into big scores. The KZN side was at risk of coming up short of the required score, which was within tantalising reach. When McGough arrived at the crease, though, he took charge.
His effort was enough to cancel out St Stithians’ pair of half-centuries from Pranav Raichetti and Aiden van der Westhuizen and Westville followed their neighbours, Kearsney College, in executing a successful run chase of a solid Saints’ total.
Summarised Scorecards
St David’s 252/9 (Hayden Campbell 51, Armaan Manack 31; Kyle White 5/38, Nqobani Mokoena 2/48) Northwood 255/7 (David de Bruyn 106, Kyle White 43; Hayden Campbell 2/35, Armaan Manack 1/14) Northwood won by three wickets.
St Stithians 264/7 (Aidan van der Westhuizen 69, Pranav Raichetti 50; Nicandro Kistna 3/36) Westville Boys’ High265/7 (Kyle McGough 74, Nicandro Kistna 48; Akhil Challa 2/23) Westville won by three wickets.
Despite cold, gloomy, and wet weather throughout Gauteng over the weekend, the Gauteng Development League (GDL) once again took centre stage as the race for silverware and bragging rights continued.
While the harsh weather conditions kept some supporters away from the games, they took it in through live-streaming on SuperSport Schools, which ensured no action was missed.
For the teams that occupy the top three spots in the league’s standings – Highlands Park, Kaizer Chiefs, and Mamelodi Sundowns – every fixture is of the utmost importance. After all, only eight more rounds remained on the league’s schedule heading into the weekend’s games.
Randburg AFC and Jomo Cosmos kicked things off at the Randburg Sports Complex, where the clubs’ u13 teams played to a goalless draw. Randburg picked up a 2-1 victory in the u15 division, but Cosmos took all three points in the u19 division with a 3-1 win.
Sevens Academy hosted Tuks at Woodlands International College. They won the u13 match 3-1, the u15 clash 2-1, and the u17 game 1-0, but an own goal gave Tuks a narrow victory in the meeting of the u19 sides.
Coach Tebello Kheswa‘s NWU Vaal FC beat Kathorus Hyper Academy 3-1 at the George Thebe Stadium, with forward Mesuli Ndlovu enjoying an excellent outing for the winners.
School of Excellence handed Wits Junior a 3-1 defeat at Marks Park, and Kaizer Chiefs beat Panorama FC 4-2 to close out the weekend’s fixtures.
RESULTS
Panorama FC 2-4 Kaizer Chiefs
Randburg AFC 1-3 Jomo Cosmos
Sevens Academy 1-2 Tuks
NWU Vaal FC 3-1 Kathorus Hyper Academy
School of Excellence 3-1 Wits Junior
Hoërskool Rustenburg after they claimed the North West Schools SA20 title at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Sunday.
Hoërskool Rustenburg dethroned Potchefstroom Gimnasium as the North West’s T20 champions and became the first winners of the new Schools SA20 challenge in the region after a sustained high level of performance over two days.
The Rusties’ run to the title started with a comprehensive 116-run victory over Hoërskool Lichtenburg in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Batting first, the Rustenburgers made their way to a big total of 198/7 in their 20 overs, thanks to almost the entire top order chipping in with solid contributions.
Tristan van der Linde, who was excellent over the two days, top-scored with 42, while Manfred Wenhold scored one less, finishing with an unbeaten 41.
Christivan Coetzer and Thian Labuschagne, known for their power-hitting, added further valuable contributions, with Coetzer smashing a quickfire 33 and Labuschagne weighing in with 29. The bowling department, then, did their part, restricting the Liggies to only 82/8 from their 20 overs.
Keany Janse van Vuuren shone with the ball, boasting a return of 3/6, and, with support from Manfred Wenhold, who snagged 2/14, he ensured that the Rusties cruised into Sunday’s final.
Potchefstroom Gimnasium was equally impressive as they, too, went past the 190-run mark in their Saturday semi-final against Hoërskool Wolmaransstad. Lukas Kotze was the batting standout, notching 52 runs. Ulrich Botha, also, played his part, contributing an unbeaten 51. Divan van Eldik tacked on another 42 runs to see the Potch boys to a formidable 195/4.
The Wollies didn’t bat as freely as their opponents, but they also didn’t surrender their wickets easily to the Gimmies. Thlalefo Thobedi shone for Wolmaranstad, scoring an unbeaten 46, while Gimmies’ Thlone Thabata did the most damage with the ball, claiming 2/9.
Although they struggled to take wickets, Gimmies bowled economically to restrict Wollies to 114/4, which left Potch Gimnasium the winners by a handsome 81-run margin.
On Sunday, in the final, it was the turn of Rustenburg’s Thian Labuschagne to set alight the JB Marks Oval, in Potchefstroom. Opening the batting, he kept the pedal to the metal, even after losing his opening partner Callie Fryer, to the first ball of the game.
Labuschagne smashed a vital 74 runs from only 60 balls, sending four balls to the boundary and four over it. Tristan van der Linde and Manfred Wenhold were in the runs again, with each adding 27, which helped Rustenburg to a challenging 172/6.
Caden Seleka, Gimmies’ leading all-rounder, delivered a performance to remember. He claimed his side’s best bowling figures of 2/25 and then put up a proper fight with the bat, top-scoring with 54. With Jahndré Coetzee scoring 32, Gimnasium was on top for a brief moment, before Tristan van der Linde stole the show again.
Van der Linde’s 2/6, together with Callie Fryer’s 2/23, and 2/31 from Thian Labuschagne, slowed the Potch side’s momentum, and they were eventually dismissed for 149, leaving Rustenburg the winners by 23 runs.
Summarised scorecards
Final
Hoërskool Rustenburg 172/6 (Thian Labuschagne 74, Tristan van der Linde 27, Manfred Wenhold 27, Extras 27; Caden Seleka 2/25); Potchefstroom Gimnasium 149 (Caden Seleka 54, Jahndré Coetzee 32, Lukas Kotze 27; Tristan van der Linde 2/6, Callie Fryer 2/23, Thian Labuschagne 2/31). Hoërskool Rustenburg won by 23 runs.
Happy days for the KES 1st XI, which beat St Charles on the St Charles Oval a day after Saints had beaten Grey College at the same venue. Photo courtesy of KES.
King Edward VII School(KES) recorded a second victory in as many matches at the 2024 edition of the Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week when they handed St Charles a whopping 138-run defeat in Pietermaritzburg on Monday. Their win came courtesy of half-centuries from Luke Clark and Khwezi Nyamathe.
A short distance away, Kristian Kind laid a solid foundation for Grey College, who beat Jeppe High School for Boys by four wickets at Collegians.
Clark and Nyamathe shared a match-winning 90-run second-wicket partnership as they took down Saints, who had scored an impressive win over Grey College the previous day. Clark, who top-scored for KES with 28 runs in their victory over Hilton on Sunday, struck nine fours and a six on his way to 62 off 63 balls.
Nyamathe was the foil to Clark’s aggressive stroke play. The number four batsman accumulated 52 runs from 113 deliveries in a patient innings that featured just three fours. The duo joined forces in the fifth over after KES had lost opener Tiago Dias.
The Clark-Nyamathe partnership spanned 14.5 overs and was broken when Clark was run out in the 20th over. Things looked a little grim for the Johannesburg school when Troy Gordon was dismissed for a five-ball duck nine deliveries later. However, the trio of Callum Ritchie,Zieg Roos, and Wade McQuinn prevented a middle-order collapse and contributed 78 runs between them.
Marcell Wellmann delivered a brilliant four-over spell at the death for St Charles. The left-arm spinner bagged four wickets for 33 runs between the 43rd and 49th overs to help restrict KES to what looked like a gettable total. Still, the Saints’ skipper came in for some stick, finishing with four wickets for 55 runs from his seven overs.
St Charles’ openers, Connor Riley and Cian Fortman, did a good job in seeing off the new ball, but not much followed after their 27-run stand in 9.1 overs was ended, with the home side’s top order contributing little. Saints never recovered from that collapse and stumbled their way to 103 all out.
The St Charles’ batting was under the pump so much that only Stefan Veldsman, with 22, made it out of the teens. Three more batsmen – Riley, Fortman, and Brendan Sunguro, the hero of their win on Sunday over Grey College – reached double figures, but they didn’t do much more.
Wade McQuinn caused the Saints’ batsmen problems and was the most successful of the KES bowlers, taking two wickets for seven runs in four overs. Christian Sabela, Fayaaz Vawda, and Callum Ritchie also bagged a brace of wickets each as they bowled their side to victory.
At Collegians, Grey College made light work of the target set for them by Jeppe. The boys from Bloemfontein bounced back from their five-wicket loss to St Charles with a four-wicket victory over the Kensington school.
Grey successfully chased Jeppe’s 175 all out, which had been achieved in 43.1 overs. It took Grey 41.1 overs to reach 176/6.
Kristian Kind stroked eight fours and blasted two sixes on his way to a well-played 68 off 86 deliveries. He was in great touch and his maximums matched the total of the entire Jeppe batting lineup. The opener was also the dominant contributor in a 66-run opening stand with Cullen Marais, who added 10 runs to his team’s cause.
Kind’s innings was enough to secure the boys from Bloemfontein a victory because of Jeppe’s middling score. Unlike Jeppe, who lost wickets in clumps, Grey College was able to string together partnerships that did enough to keep their run chase on course. Henru De Wet and Ruben Maree contributed 44 runs between them, while Pieter Smit (13) and Dale Williams (15) failed to settle in.
Sipho Potsane and Shreshth Kumar bagged a brace of wickets each for Jeppe, but neither could stop the Grey College train. Potsane finished with a tidy two for 25 from 10 overs, while Kumar bowled tightly, too, and picked up two for 29 in eight.
Earlier in the day, the Grey College bowlers made good use of the morning conditions to send Jeppe’s top three batsmen packing for only 19 runs.
Ryan Young (35) top-scored for Jeppe in their match against the CSA Hub XI, with a solid half-century on Sunday, and while there was no individual milestone for him this time around, he battled hard to give his side a fighting chance, sharing in a 67-run partnership with Aiden Reyneke, who top-scored for Jeppe with 39.
However, Jeppe needed more than two scores in the thirties. Keegan Caxeiro and Potsane made it to 20, but there was nothing else to write home about.
Henru De Wet was the pick of the Grey College, claiming three wickets for 16 runs in 5.1 overs. Darion Rabie and Sicelo Matayi picked up two wickets apiece, while Otto Krause and Daniel Hattingh removed a batsman each.
Summarised Scorecards
KES 241/10 (Luke Clark 62, Khwezi Nyamathe 52; Marcell Wellmann 4/55) St Charles 103/10 (Stefan Veldsman 22; Wade McQuinn 2/7, Christian Sabela 2/10) KES XI won by 138 runs.
Jeppe 175/10 (Aiden Reyneke 39, Ryan Young 35; Henru De Wet 3/16) Grey College 176/6 (Kristian Kind 68, Henru De Wet 24; Sipho Potsane 2/25, Shreshth Kumar 2/29) Grey College won by five wickets.
Glenwood’s bowlers had Pretoria Boys High’s number and bowled the Green Machine to a big win at UKZN on Monday at the Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week.
A sublime bowling performance by Jared Havemann carried Durban High School(DHS) to their second victory of the 64th Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week on Monday.
This time, they beat Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies) at Eston on the penultimate day of the week, thanks to the leg-spin of Havemann, who brought about the downfall of the visitors from up north.
Defending a decent total of 232, the Horseflies had to work hard for their first two wickets. However, after the run out of Vihan Pretorius, a key player in the top order, things went pear-shaped for Affies as wickets fell at regular intervals, thanks to Havemann’s consistency, which is something rarely seen from a young leg-spin bowler.
His return of 4/25 from nine overs, and two wickets each from Bhavesh Naicker and Semal Pillay, crippled the Affies’ reply and they slumped to 137 all out.
Affies’ captain Divan de Villiers put up a valiant fight. He was fantastic with the ball, bagging a five-wicket haul. His excellent performance of 5/28 in 8.4 overs received little backing, though, with only Janco Purchase, who top-scored with 41 runs, making a meaningful contribution. No other Affies’ batsmen made it past 20.
At UKZN, in Pietermaritzburg, Glenwood High School walloped Pretoria Boys High (PBHS) as they, too, delivered a sublime bowling performance in the second innings of the match. Just like DHS, Glenwood posted a respectable total, tallying 231/8 in their 50 overs.
Kreeshan Pillay led a combined effort from the top and middle order, with his mature 48, the highest score of the innings, coming off of 70 balls. Karabo Ntsieng came close to matching him, contributing 44 runs. It was, however, Daniel Gunawardana who stole the show with his accurate off-spin.
Gunawardena capitalised on the platform laid by opening bowler, Sibonelo Phewa, who captured 4/33 in his 10 overs, before Gunawardene laid waste to the Boys High batting, snaring 4/10 in just 4.2 overs.
What made the Glenwood bowling performance even more impressive is that they did it without their SA Schools and SA Emerging u19 fast bowler, Ntando Soni, who normally spearheads the attack. He’s on tour with the SA u19 Emerging side in Zimbabwe.
Tim Gordon provided a glimmer of hope for PBHS and looked solid in scoring 24, which was the Gautengers’ highest score. However, they came up well short, bowled out for 107 to go down by a big 124-run margin
Summarised scorecards
Durban High School 232/10 (Lazlo Jooste 58, Joshua van Biljon 33, Ethan Cooper 31, Ismaeel Omar 26, Semal Pillay 26; Divan de Villiers 5/28, Vihan Pretorius 2/46); Affies 137/10 (Janco Purchase 41; Jared Havemann 4/25, Pravesh Naicker 2/17, Semal Pillay 2/27). Durban High School won by 95 runs.
Glenwood High School 231/8 (Kreeshan Pillai 48, Karabo Ntsieng 44, Krian Jugoo 33, Nathan Moodley 32, Bandile Mbatha 28; Johan Coetzer 2/42, Patrick Mouton 2/46); Pretoria Boys High School 107/10 (Tim Gordon 24, Johan Coetzer 21*, Adam Cannata 20; Daniel Gunawardana 4/10, Sibonelo Phewa 4/33). Glenwood High School won by 124 runs.
Bishops Diocesan College won the SACS Water Polo Tournament for the first time in its 39th edition. Photo: TeamPhotoSA
Bishops Diocesan College‘s first team water polo head coach, Jabulani Sibiya, and his team made history on Monday when they became the first-ever Bishops’ team to win the annual SACS Water Polo Tournament after defeating Gauteng’s St John’s College 5-2 in the final at the SACS Aquatic Centre in Cape Town.
Bishops, who led 3-1 at half-time, scored twice in the second half and restricted their opponents to only one more goal to secure the win.
The victory opened up a place for Sibiya and troops in the history books as it made them the first Bishops team to win the title since the event’s inception in 1984.
On their journey to the final, Sibiya’s team was in top form. They dominated Pool B, which included St Stithians College, Rondebosch Boys’ High, and Hilton College, who were also playing at a high level.
Bishops played nine pool matches, won seven of them, drew 5-5 against Saints, and lost 3-5 against ‘Bosch in their final pool match on Monday.
In Pool A, St John’s impressed from the start and was favoured by some to go all the way. Coach Vlado Trninic‘s side stacked eight wins against a single defeat in their pool outings to finish in first place in the group ahead of SACS, Wynberg Boys’ High, and Paul Roos Gimnasium.
In the quarterfinals, they took on KwaZulu-Natal’s Hilton College, and edged them 4-3, while Bishops beat the hosts and defending champions, SACS, 4-2 to set up a semifinal clash against their rivals, Rondebosch Boys’ High. It was an opportunity to avenge their earlier loss to ‘Bosch in their last Pool A clash.
Sibiya’s side, sniffing an opportunity to make history, pulled out all the stops in their second showdown with Rondebosch, recording a nervy 3-1 win. St John’s, meanwhile, beat their Johannesburg rivals, St Stithians, 8-5 in the second semifinal to set up a thrilling finale between the table-topping teams.
Bishops’s Timothy Young scored a hattrick in his side’s 5-2 win over St John’s College in the final of the SACS Water Polo Tournament. Photo: TeamPhotoSA
Getting off to a good start was important in the title decider and it was Bishops who seized the early initiative. With only a minute on the clock, Thomas Truter opened the scoring for the Cape side. But Ross Rovelli pulled one back for St John’s.
Just before half-time, Bishops upped their game to score twice through their skipper, Ross Stewart, and the dangerous Timothy Young. Then, early in the second half, Young made it a double. St John’s hit back with a goal through Nicholas Searle, which kept their title hopes alive.
Those hopes were quickly dashed by Young, however, He completed his hattrick, before some resolute defending and great shot-stopping by goalkeeper Jordan de Sousa sealed the win for Bishops.
In the third/fourth play-off, St Stithians defeated Rondebosch Boys’ High 5-2 to take home the bronze medal.
Monday’s results included Selborne College finishing strongly with a 7-1 win over St Benedict’s, while Clifton College defeated Grey High School.
Grey High, Grey College, and Parktown Boys’ High all finished without a win to their names, although both of the Greys managed draws.
Burundi’s Allan Gatato, the sixth side, made it through to the semi-finals of the J300 Tournament at Curri Hillcrest, but rain prevented him from challenging for a place in the final.
Despite a week filled with exceptional tennis from some of the finest junior boys’ and girls’ players around the world, the weather ultimately dictated the outcome of the J300 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Tournament, held at Curro Hillcrest, which ended on Saturday, 21 September.
The event, sanctioned by Tennis South Africa and supported by Curro Holdings, followed in the footsteps of last week’s J200 tournament at the same venue, in which South Africa’s Connor Doigwon the boys’ competition, while Mayaan Laron triumphed over compatriot Mika Buchnik in an all-Israeli girls’ final
A cold spell, with plenty of rain, threw a spanner in the works, despite the best efforts of the organisers to maintain the J300 event’s momentum and stick to the schedule.
Ahead of the last day of competition, the team focussed on advancing the competition to the semi-final rounds of the boys’ and girls’ singles and doubles events. Mother Nature, though, had the final say and the matches were unable to be completed.
“It’s out of our hands as we cannot control the weather, but we have to appreciate the importance of this event, the calibre of players we have, and their commitment to travelling from around the world to be here to further their careers,” commented Jared Temlett, the Project Manager at Curro Sport.
“Our role is to ensure they have the opportunity to play and showcase their skills and it’s a massive disappointment to have to eventually call the tournament at this late stage.”
Temlett and his team had play extending well into the night on numerous occasions throughout the week as they resorted to matches played under floodlights. It was like a magician calling on all his tricks and prowess to ensure the show went on.
With no possibility of play being carried over to Sunday due to many of the players having to travel, it came down to the singles semi-finals, which scheduled the number-one seed Anna Maria Fedotova (Dominican Republic) against the J200 champion Maayan Laron (Israel) and Britain’s Flora Johnson, the third-seed, facing J200 losing finalist Mika Buchnik (Israel), the number-two 2 seed, in the girls’ draw.
For the boys, it was Allan Gatato (Burundi), seeded sixth, up against Kohshi Ishibashi (Japan), and Nikolai Barsukov (Germany), the fifth seed, facing Kriish Tyagi (India), the fourth seed.
After waiting all day on Saturday for an opportunity to get onto court, play became possible only at 20:00 that evening and rain still threatened. With one match deep into the first set and another barely started, officials and players had to dash for cover once more.
“It was frustrating as we even shortened the sets to try and make up time, with the possibility of still getting some game time on court,” said Temlett. “Although the rain did stop for a few hours, it must be remembered it still takes another two hours in these cold conditions for the court surfaces to be playable again.”
Shortly after 21:00, a sense of disappointment enveloped the courts as the players and coaches came to terms with the cessation of play.
“There is no prize money for these events but points gleaned from such a tournament are of vital importance to the players and their careers. We have seen on numerous occasions in the past how players have used the points gained at our events to springboard their careers into the Grand Slams,” Temlett said.
“It’s a massive undertaking for us and I am so proud of the team and their efforts under extremely trying conditions. We have done everything this week to ensure the integrity of the tournament by giving the players the maximum opportunity.”
The doubles were called off at the semi-final stage with the points shared among the players.
Next up, between 1 and 15 December, are weeks four and five of the Curro Centre Court Series in Stellenbosch.
Lincoln Mali, the founder of the Lincoln Mali Leadership Foundation.
Standard Bank, in proud partnership with the Lincoln Mali Leadership Foundation, is set to send 22 young rugby players from the Eastern Cape to the United Kingdom for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The players, selected from 528 boys and 24 schools from Gqeberha and Fort Beaufort, earned their places in the Mzwandile Mali XV through a series of competitive games at the Mzwandile Mali Schools Rugby Tournament held earlier this year.
Accompanied by four officials, the players, aged between 16 and 18, will be hosted by the Sevenoaks Rugby Football Club (SRFC), in Kent, from 4 to 13 October.
The team and staff will stay with families associated with the SRFC and will visit, practice with, and play games against Tonbridge School, Sutton Valence School, Brighton College, and Sevenoaks School.
“This is an exciting initiative, which we are proud to support,” Bonga Sebesho, Standard Bank Group Head for Sponsorships, said in a statement.
“Sport plays a pivotal part in the development of all children and these selected players, who are drawn from grassroots backgrounds, will have a firsthand opportunity to live out their dreams.”
In preparation for the tour, the Mzwandile Mali XV and support staff engaged in two training camps sponsored by the Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Arts, and Recreation, and the Atlas Foundation through Sevenoaks RFC. The team was hosted by the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) Madibaz High Performance Complex. A third camp, sponsored by VW SA Trust, is set to be hosted later this month at NMU.
The camps have enabled the Foundation to provide overall fitness, cultural, psychosocial, and educational support to prepare the boys for the tour. They also played matches against Muir College, African Bombers Juniors, Grey High School, and Newtown School in Fort Beaufort.
“We launched this tournament 10 years ago and it has grown from inception to a powerful grassroots growth project that kids across the province look forward to annually,” Lincoln Mali, the founder of the Lincoln Mali Leadership Foundation, said.
“Standard Bank’s partnership, in collaboration with other partners, has allowed us to expand this tournament to reach more kids who would ordinarily not have access to opportunity.
“We are humbled by the platform presented by Sevenoaks for these young players to showcase their talent in the UK and to a broader South African audience that will watch the streamed games.
“Seeing the impact that the tournament has, we hope to inspire others to look at what they can do to help with the progression of grassroots sport as a tangible root for the development of young people,” Sebesho concluded.
The UK High Commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson, wished the boys good luck for their forthcoming trip. He commented: “This is such a wonderful opportunity for the boys and the UK families hosting them. It is a privilege to have them showcase their talent at an important rugby club like SRFC, and it shows how the UK and South Africa can exchange talent while pursuing common interests in areas we are passionate about.”
Noordheuwel se 18-jarige Kiara van Eeden het reeds merkwaardige prestasies in haar netballoopbaan op skool behaal.
Despite cold, gloomy, and wet weather throughout Gauteng over the weekend, the Gauteng Development League (GDL) once again took centre stage as the race for silverware and bragging rights continued.
