Contenders pave the way on day one of KES Water Polo Tournament
Entertaining water polo, resulting in bucket loads of goals, and a handful of surprise results were on the menu on Friday, the opening day of the KES Water Polo Tournament in Johannesburg.
The prestigious tournament runs until Sunday, and all the action is LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
Ahead of the event, there was a lot of talk about title contenders, favourites, and underdogs. St David’s Marist Inanda, the back-to-back Vides’ champions, fitted the contenders’ category, and they kicked off proceedings with a Pool A clash against Jeppe High School for Boys.
It was far from a walk in the park for coach Dean Whyte’s boys, and they were made to work hard for their 9-5 win.
Cooper Haworth netted a hat-trick for St David’s before David Latilla-Campbell chipped in with a brace. Dylan Gander was also on the scoresheet alongside Danilo Giuricich, Connor McJannet, and Matthew Peacock.
Aiden Khoury was a shining light for Jeppe, with his hat-trick helping the Kensington side cut the deficit.
In their second matches of the day, St David’s beat Clifton College 9-5, while Jeppe suffered a 4-15 loss to Bishops.
Bishops, one of the favourites, was impressive. They trounced Clifton, the only team to beat them thus far in 2026, rolling to a 10-4 victory.
Matt Fenn netted four times in that clash, while Tim Young struck twice. Harry Ford, Jack Grout, Christo le Roux, and James Malan netted, too.
Rondebosch Boys’ High dominated Pool B, claiming two big wins. Coach Jared Wingate-Pearse‘s boys started their campaign by thumping Pretoria Boys High (PBHS) 17-1 before outplaying Hilton College 11-6 later in the day.
Against Hilton, playing on his birthday, Noah Reiback bagged his umpteenth hat-trick for the ‘Bosch first team, while his counterparts, Nathan Corlett and Kieran Bennewith, chipped in with two goals each.
St John’s College ended the opening day with a win and a loss. They went down 5-6 to Hilton College in their opener, but ran out 10-6 winners over Pretoria Boys High in their second outing.
Chris Chapman and Muhammad Bodiat fired in three goals each in the St John’s win, while Oliver Oberholzer stood out for PBHS.
There were some interesting results in Pool C. Based on day one’s results, it appears the group is going to be more tightly contested than many predicted.SACS was stretched and had to dig deep, but they won both of their games, scraping past Selborne 9-8 before beating KES 11-8.
Ben Bigara was in top form against KES, scoring a whopping five goals, while Finn Lecuona netted twice.
Benjamin Vine and Christopher Davidson led the KES challenge, but their efforts weren’t enough to topple SACS.
Selborne ended the day in second place after beating Westville Boys’ High in a penalty shootout.
The game ended tied at 4-4, but the boys from East London took the win 3-1 from five metres out. Earlier in the day, Westville held on for a 6-5 win over KES.
Kearsney, St Stithians College and Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG) lead Pool D after bagging crucial wins.
Saints won against St Andrew’s College, 7-6, in their opener before they were beaten by PRG 3-2 on penalties after the match ended tied at 5-5.
Kearsney was far from their best, but they did enough to stay unbeaten, defeating PRG 10-9 and St Andrew’s 11-5 to go top of the standings.
Thomas Aylward was on fire against St Andrew’s, scoring four goals. He was joined on the scoresheet by Thomas Francke, James Whatmore, Oliver Ludwig, Max Mills, Cristiano Sandri, and Dru Mills, who netted a brace.
Day two’s action kicks off bright and early with a Pool A meeting between Clifton and Jeppe at 07:00.
Day 1 Results
Pool A
St David’s Marist Inanda 9-5 Jeppe High School for Boys
Bishops 10-4 Clifton College
Jeppe High School for Boys 4-15 Bishops
St David’s Marist Inanda 9-5 Clifton College
Pool B
Rondebosch 17-1 Pretoria Boys High School
St John’s College 5-6 Hilton College
St John’s College 10-6 Pretoria Boys High School
Rondebosch 11-6 Hilton
Pool C
King Edward VII School 5-6 Westville Boys’ High
SACS 9-8 Selborne College
SACS 11-8 KES
Westville Boys’ High (1) 4-4 (3) Selborne College
Pool D
St Stithians College 7-6 St Andrew’s College
Kearsney College 10-9 Paul Roos Gimnasium
Kearsney College 11-5 St Andrew’s College
St Stithians College (2) 5-5 (3) Paul Roos Gimnasium
Day 2 Fixtures
Saturday, 28 February
07:00 – Clifton College vs Jeppe High School For Boys
07:50 – Rondebosch Boys’ High vs St John’s College
08:40 – King Edward VII vs Selborne College
09:30 – St Andrew’s College vs Paul Roos Gimnasium
10:20 – St David’s Marist Inanda vs Bishops
11:10 – Pretoria Boys High vs Hilton College
12:00 – SACS vs Westville Boys’ High
12:50 – Kearsney College vs St Stithians College
Playoffs
13:40 – Pool 1 Third vs Pool 2 Fourth
14:10 – Pool 2 Third vs Pool 1 Fourth
14:40 – Pool 3 Third vs Pool 4 Fourth
15:10 – Pool 4 Third vs Pool 3 Fourth
15:40 – Pool 1 First vs Pool 2 Second
16:30 – Pool 2 First vs Pool 1 Second
17:20 – Pool 3 First vs Pool 4 Second
18:10 – Pool 4 First vs Pool 3 Second
19:00 – Loser 25 vs Loser 27
19:30 – Loser 26 vs Loser 28
20:00 – Loser 29 vs Loser 31
20:30 – Loser 30 vs Loser 32
Sunday, 1 March
07:00 – Winner Plate QF 1 vs Winner Plate QF 3
07:30 – Winner Plate QF 2 vs Winner Plate QF 4
08:00 – Cup QF 1 winner – Cup QF 3 winner
08:50 – Cup QF 2 winner – Cup QF 4 winner
09:40 – Loser 33 vs Loser 34
10:10 – Winner 33 vs Winner 34
10:40 – Loser Plate Semi 1 – Loser Plate Semi 2
11:10 – Winner Plate Semi 1 – Winner Plate Semi 2
11:40 – Loser 35 vs Loser 36
12:10 – Winner 35 vs Winner 36
12:40 – Loser Cup Semi 1 vs Loser Cup Semi 2
13:30 – Final
