Saints imperious as defence of Reef Cup begins
The hosts, St Stithians College, opened their challenge at the annual Reef Cup Water Polo Invitational tournament with two convincing victories on Thursday.
The defending champions beat Falcon College 16-0 in their opening match in the morning, and then thumped Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool 20-3 in the afternoon, to send out a strong message to their opponents; they’re intent on sending their coach Etienne le Roux out on a high.
Against Affies, Saints were on fire from the opening whistle, scoring eight times in the first chukka, and early in the second chukka they made it nine, while the visitors had mustered only one goal in reply.
Affies battled hard but they were simply outplayed as St Stithians ran away to a 20–3 win.
Earlier, in the first match of the day, Harare’s Hellenic Academy defeated Parktown High School for Girls 13–4. Reddam House Bedfordview saw off Steyn City School 9–3 and Kingsmead College also made it into the winning column with a 6-2 victory over Beaulieu College.
Roedean made a light work of Pretoria High School for Girls when they overran them 23–2. The Johannesburg girls received strong performances from Mia Loizides, Ziyanda Tshabalala and Taylor Billett.
It didn’t take long for them to secure a solid lead. In the first chukka they went six goals clear, netting six times while Pretoria remained goalless. By the end of the third chukka, they had stretched their advantage to 17-2.
There were a number of other one-sided results, with St Peter’s College handing Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool a 21–1 loss and St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls powering their way to an 18–1 win over Woodridge College
The second round of action splashes off at 07:50 on Friday with the Tournament Invitation Team taking on Pretoria High School for Girls in the Olympic South pool. The last clash of the day will be St Stithians College versus Reddam House Umhlanga, starting at 17:50.
RESULTS
Hellenic 13-4 Parktown
Reddam Bedfordview 9-3 Steyn City
Kingsmead 6-2 Beaulieu
Reddam Umhlanga 8–1 St Peter’s
Roedean 18–7 Tournament Invitation
St Dominic’s 18–1 Woodridge
Crawford 13-2 Rand Park
St Stithians 16-0 Falcon College
Parktown 10-4 Pretoria
Steyn City 8–10 Maris Stella
Beaulieu 8-3 Reddam
St Peter’s 21–2 Afrikaanse Hoër
Hellenic 8-5 Tournament Invitation
Reddam Bedfordview 13–3 Woodridge
Kingsmead 11-1 Rand Park
Reddam Umhlanga 9-5 Falcon
Roedean 23-2Pretoria High
St Dominic’s 11-4 Maris Stella
Crawford 11-4 Reddam Helderfontein
St Stithians 20–3 Afrikaanse Hoër
Day 2, Friday 1 March 2024 @ St Stithians College, Sandton
07h50 – (21) Tournament Invitation v Pretoria High, (22) Woodridge v Maris Stella; 8h40 – (23) Rand Park v Reddam Helderfontein, (24) Afrikaans Hoër v Falcon; 10h20 – (25) Roedean v Parktown (26) St Dominic’s v Steyn City, (27) Crawford Lonehill v Beaulieu; 11h10 – (28) St Stithians v St Peter’s; 12h00 – (29) Hellenic v Pretoria High; 12h50 – (30) Reddam Bedfordview v Maris Stella; (31) Kingsmead v Reddam Helderfontein; (32) Reddam Umhlanga v Afrikaans Hoër; 14h30 – (33) Tournament Invitation v Parktown, (34) Woodridge v Steyn City; 15h20 – (35) Rand Park v Beaulieu, (36) Falcon v St Peter’s; 17h00 – (37) Hellenic v Roedean, (38) Reddam Bedfordview v St Dominic’s, (39) Kingsmead v Crawford Lonehill; 17h50 – (40); St Stithians v Reddam Umhlanga
Day 3, Saturday 2 March 2024 @St Stithians College, Sandton
07h50 – (41) A1 v B3, (42) B2 v A3; 8h40 – (43) C2 v D3, (44) D2 v C3; 10h20 – (45) A5 v B4, (46) A4 v B5, (47) C5 v D4; 11h10 – (48) C4 v D5; 12h00 – (49) A1 v Winner Game 43; 12h50 – (50) Winner Game 44 v B1, (51) Winner Game 41 v C1, (52) D1 v Winner Game 42; 13h40 – (53) Loser Game 45 v Loser Game 47; 14h30 – (54) Loser Game 46 v Loser Game 48; 15h20 – (55) Loser Game 43 v Loser Game 41; (56) Loser Game 44 v Loser Game 42; 16h10 – (57) Winner Game 47 v Winner Game 45; 17h00 – (58) Winner Game 46 v Winner Game 48; 17h50 – (59) Winner Game 50 v Winner Game 49, (60) Loser Game 50 (QF2) v Loser Game 49; (61) Loser Game 50 v Loser Game 49; 18h40 – (62) Loser Game 52 v Loser Game 51
Day 4, Sunday 3 March 2024 @St Stithians College, Sandton
07h50 – (63) Loser Game 53 v Loser Game 54, (64) Winner Game 53 v Winner Game 54, (65) Loser Game 57 v Loser Game 58, 09h30 – (66) Winner Game 57 v Winner Game 58; (67) Loser Game 55 v Loser Game 56, (68) Loser Game 55 v Loser Game 56; 11h10 – (69) Loser Game 61 v Loser Game 60, (70) Winner Game 62 v Winner Game 59, (71) Loser Game 62 v Loser Game 59; 13h10 – (72) Winner Game 62 v Girls Winner Game 59 – Final
