The South African Country Districts men’s and women’s teams took a step closer to yet another Growthpoint Squash Interprovincial triumph as they put themselves in pole position to drive for victory in the final rounds on Friday.
In Thursday’s key Kaplan Cup women’s clash, SA Country Districts A underlined their depth to quell a spirited challenge from logleaders Joburg Squash A, making the successful defence of their title a formality.
Joburg Squash still head the log but they have completed their programme and SA Country Districts are a shoe-in to make up the two-point difference and take over the lead in their final match against Eastern Province A today.
Playing the first two matches, Growthpoint 2021 national individual champion Lizelle Muller and Alexa Pienaar were quick out of the blocks on Thursday, setting up the final victory with 3-0 results.
From that point it was not as easy, especially after Joburg Squash No 3 Shannon Harvey outduelled Shelomi Truter in four games.
There were some really good contests before Keschia Scorgie secured the bonus points for the titleholders with a 3-1 win over Nadia Ramchandra, allowing Dene van Zyl to put the finish touches to the result for SACD.
EP A won their first match of the week with a solid 18-6 result over Western Province A, thanks to wins by Hayley Ward, Kacey-Leigh Dodd and Dani Shone.
Even in the matches they lost, EP were in it all the way as Jacqui Ryder and Anlen Jarman went down in five games to Juanette le Roux and Cass Erasmus respectively.
In the men’s Jarvis Cup competition, hosts Northerns A crowned a memorable week by qualifying for the final with a solid performance against Gauteng rivals Joburg Squash A. They did the necessary by winning three of the five matches, with Andrew Martin giving them the vital five points in a 3-0 win over Dean Nortier, a clash in which the final scoreline belied the intensity of the occasion.
They will face the potent SA Country Districts A team in today’s final, starting at noon, after the champions comfortably overcame SACD B 19-4.
There was some joy for the B side as they became the first team to win a match against SACD A this week, No 4 Reuel Videler shading Jonty Matthys in five games in the final encounter.
The results were:
Women’s Kaplan Cup
Eastern Province A bt Western Province A 18-6 (EP A first): Hayley Ward bt Karen Schultz 3-0 (11-5 11-1 11-5), Jacqui Ryder lost to Juanette le Roux 3-2 (6-11 11-6 2-11 11-5 11-9), Kacey-Leigh Dodd bt Katie Mayhew 3-0 (11-4 11-8 11-8), Anlen Jarman lost to Cass Erasmus 3-2 (5-11 11-6 3-11 11-4 11-3), Dani Shone bt Nicole Gliddon 3-0 (11-7 11-6 11-6)
SA Country Districts A bt Joburg Squash A 18-5 (SACD A first): Lizelle Muller bt Teagan Roux 3-0 (11-9 11-6 11-3), Alexa Pienaar bt Jennifer Preece 3-0 (11-5 12-10 11-3), Shelomi Truter lost to Shannon Harvey 3-1 (11-6 11-8 10-12 11-3), Dene van Zyl bt Tayla Diepenbroek 3-1 (11-7 2-11 11-8 14-12), Keschia Scorgie bt Nadia Ramchandra 3-1 (11-3 9-11 11-5 11-2)
Provisional log (matches in brackets): Joburg Squash A 57 (4), SACD A 55 (3), EP A 36 (3), Northerns A 28 (3), WP A 12 (3)
Men’s Jarvis Cup
Positions 1-4
SA Country Districts A bt SA Country Districts B 19-4 (SACD A first): Dewald van Niekerk bt Ian Oosthuizen 3-0 (11-5 11-1 11-7), JP Brits bt Jonathan Just 3-0 (11-3 11-6 11-8), Rudi van Niekerk bt Luke van Vuuren 3-0 (11-3 11-5 11-8), Jonty Matthys lost to Reuel Videler 3-2 (10-12 11-3 7-11 11-6 11-7), Dylan Niemack bt Jimmy Schlebusch 3-1 (11-7 11-7 4-11 11-8)
Northerns A bt Joburg Squash A 14-6 (Northerns A first): Damian Groenewald lost to Christo Potgieter 3-0 (11-6 11-6 14-12), Ruan Olivier bt Devon Hendrikse 3-0 (11-2 11-4 11-4), Sipho Ncube bt Mark Dunn 3-0 (11-6 11-2 12-10), Andrew Martin bt Dean Nortier 3-0 (11-7 11-2 11-7), Mark Schickerling lost to Michael Wood 3-0 (11-3 11-7 11-4)
Positions 5-8
Western Province A bt Eastern Province A 20-2 (WP A first): Gary Wheadon bt Warren Bower 3-1 (11-4 9-11 11-4 11-9), Mighael Lombard bt Dean Venter 3-1 (11-5 5-11 11-6 11-7), Seth Flisberg bt Sips Mpini 3-0 (11-6 11-8 11-2), John-Ross Malloch bt Jason le Roux 3-0 (11-6 7-5, Le Roux retired hurt), Justin van der Poel bt Tyrone Dial 3-0 (11-8 11-7 16-14)
Zambia A bt KwaZulu-Natal A 19-9 (Zambia A first): Kundanji Kalengo bt Matt Boote 3-1 (11-3 11-6 5-11 11-5), Kelvin Ndhlovu bt Daniel Smith 3-1 (11-7 10-12 11-7 11-2), Sam Siame bt Luke Bakke 3-2 (5-11 9-11 11-5 11-7 11-6), Manda Chilambwe bt Justin de Neef 3-2 (5-11 11-5 11-5 4-11 11-5), Ray Simbule lost to Adrian Hansen 3-2 (7-11 8-11 11-5 11-4 11-6)
Alan Straton
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