It’s tough to call as SACS defends Clifton Water Polo Tournament title
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.
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It’s early days in the season, but Northwood, Hilton College, SACS, Grey College, Paul Roos, Selborne, St John’s College, and the hosts, Clifton, all head into the tournament with plenty of games under their belts from the past weekend’s SACS Water Polo Tournament, where St John’s fell in the final to Bishops.
Those schools are joined by Affies, Michaelhouse, Kearsney College, Maritzburg College, Westville Boys’ High, King Edward VII School (KES), Reddam House Constantia, and Durban High School (DHS) in a high-quality line-up.
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.
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.
Back at home, coach Paul Martin 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.
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. And, if we’re talking about tournament victories, we should mention Clifton winning the Vides Water Polo Tournament.
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.
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.
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 in February for a second year in succession.
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.
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 in March.
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 in March. Beware the bear!
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?
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.
POOLS
Pool A – Northwood, Hilton, SACS, Grey College
Pool B – Affies, Michaelhouse, Kearsney, Paul Roos
Pool C – Selborne, Maritzburg College, Westville, St John’s
Pool D – KES, Clifton, Reddam House Constantia, DHS
FiXTURES
Thursday, 26 September
1 – 08:00 – Michaelhouse vs Kearsney (B)
2 – 08:45 – Maritzburg College vs St John’s (C)
3 – 09:30 – Clifton vs DHS (D)
4 – 10:15 – Northwood vs Hilton (A)
5 – 11:00 – Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse (B)
6 – 11:45 – KES vs Reddam (D)
7 – 12:30 – Westville vs Maritzburg College (C)
8 – 13:15 – SACS vs Grey College (A)
9 – 14:00 – Selborne vs St John’s (C)
10 – 14:45 – Affies vs Kearsney (B)
11 – 15:30 – Reddam vs DHS (D)
12 – 16:15 – Hilton vs Grey College (A)
13 – 17:00 – Selborne vs Westville (C)
14 – 17:45 – Clifton vs KES (D)
15 – 18:30 – SACS vs Northwood (A)
16 – 19:15 – Affies vs Paul Roos (B)
Friday, 27 September
17 – 08:00 – KES vs DHS (D)
18 – 08:45 – Kearsney vs Paul Roos (B)
19 – 09:30 – Northwood vs Grey College (A)
20 – 10:15 – Clifton vs Reddam (D)
21 – 11:00 – Selborne vs Maritzburg College (C)
22 – 11:45 – Affies vs Michaelhouse (B)
23 – 12:30 – Hilton vs SACS (A)
24 – 13:15 – Westville vs St John’s (C)
25 – 14:45 – 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool C
26 – 15:30 – 2nd Pool B vs 3rd Pool D
27 – 16:15 – 3rd Pool A vs 2nd Pool C
28 – 17:00 – 3rd Pool B vs 2nd Pool D
29 – 17:45 – Loser 25 vs 4th Pool D
30 – 18:30 – Loser 26 vs 4th Pool A
Saturday, 28 September
31 – 08:00 – Loser 27 vs 4th Pool B
32 – 08:45 – Loser 28 vs 4th Pool C
33 – 09:30 – 1st Pool A vs Winner 26 (QF 1)
34 – 10:30 – 1st Pool B vs Winner 25 (QF 2)
35 – 11:30 – 1st Pool C vs Winner 28 (QF 3)
36 – 12:30 – 1st Pool D vs Winner 27 (QF 4)
37 – 13:30 – Winner 29 vs Winner 30
38 – 14:15 – Winner 31 vs Winner 32
39 – 15:00 – Loser 29 vs Loser 30
40 – 15:45 – Loser 31 vs Loser 32
41 – 16:30 – Loser 33 vs Loser 35 (PL SF 1)
42 – 17:15 – Loser 34 vs Loser 36 (PL SF 2)
43 – 18:00 – Winner 33 vs Winner 35 (SF 1)
44 – 19:00 – Winner 34 vs Winner 36 (SF 2)
Sunday, 29 September
45 – 07:00 – Loser 40 vs Loser 39 (15th/16th)
46 – 07:45 – Winner 40 vs Winner 39 (13th/14th)
47 – 08:30 – Loser 37 vs Loser 38 (11th/12th)
48 – 09:15 – Winner 37 vs Winner 38 (9th/10th)
49 – 10:00 – Loser 41 vs Loser 42 (7th/8th)
50 – 10:45 – Winner 41 vs Winner 42 (5th/6th)
51 – 11:30 – Loser 44 vs Loser 43 (3rd/4th)
52 – 12:30 – Winner 44 vs Winner 43 (1st/2nd)
