St Andrew’s School and Epworth laid claim to the boys’ and girls’ titles at the Top Schools Squash Tournament in Pietermaritzburg on Monday. The event brings together the regional champions from across South Africa to determine the best of the best.
In the boys’ competition, it turned out that the top two contenders, Rondebosch Boys’ High and St Andrew’s School, were in Section 2 of the draw.
Both comfortably dealt with the challenges of Grey High School and Michaelhouse to advance to the top four playoffs.
Selborne College, the defending champion, topped Section 2, with Midstream College in second place, which left St John’s College and York High to face Grey High and Michaelhouse in the fifth to eighth place playoffs.
The tournament format sees the top two in each section carry the result of their meeting into the playoffs, meaning they have only two more ties to play. Therefore, Saints‘ 14-10 win over Rondebosch (they also won three matches to two) proved to be the most important result of the tournament.
In the top four, St Andrew’s beat Midstream College 17-4. Still, they needed to beat Selborne in their last outing. If they didn’t, Rondebosch would claim the crown. The Bloemfontein boys triumphed 16-8, and the title was theirs for a second time.
Selborne went on to finish third.
While competition among the boys was tight, Epworth dominated the girls’ event. The closest any team came to challenging the Pietermaritzburg school was Midstream College’s 6-17 loss in the playoffs.
Epworth rolled through Section 1, dropping only six games while winning 58 in their victories over the defending champ Clarendon, Roedean, and Kingswood.
Kingswood, thumped 20-0 by Epworth, did well to win their other ties convincingly.
In Section 2, Midstream College led the way, cruising past St Mary’s Waverley and Rustenburg Girls’ High, but they found Eunice to be a tougher nut to crack, winning that one 16-7.
The Bloemfontein girls joined Midstream in the top four playoffs after comfortable wins over St Mary’s and Rustenburg.
In the playoffs, Epworth was almost as dominant as they had been in the group games, adding two more victories while winning 40 more games and surrendering only nine as they marched to the title.
Midstream, third in 2025, after finishing second in 2024, moved up a place to second again. Eunice, with a 16-6 win over Kingswood, improved from fourth in 2025 to third this time around.
RESULTS
Section 1
Selborne College
Selborne 14-8 Midstream College
Selborne 20-4 St John’s
Selborne 17-3 York High
Midstream College
Midstream 8-14 Selborne
Midstream 17-5 St John’s
Midstream 17-7 York High
St John’s College
St John’s 4-20 Selborne
St John’s 5-17 Midstream
St John’s 16-7 York
York High
York 3-17 Selborne
York 7-17 Midstream
York 3-17 Selborne
Section 2
St Andrew’s School
St Andrew’s 14-10 Rondebosch
St Andrew’s 17-5 Grey High
St Andrew’s 20-0 Michaelhouse
Rondebosch Boys’ High
Rondebosch 10-14 St Andrew’s School
Rondebosch 20-1 Grey High
Rondebosch 20-0 Michaelhouse
Grey High
Grey High 1-20 Rondebosch
Grey High 5-17 St Andrew’s School
Grey High 15-9 Michaelhouse
Michaelhouse
Michaelhouse 0-20 Rondebosch
Michaelhouse 0-20 St Andrew’s
Michaelhouse 9-15 Grey High
Cross-pool playoffs (1-4)
St Andrew’s School
St Andrew’s 16-8 Selborne
St Andrew’s 17-4 Midstream College
Rondebosch Boys’ High
Rondebosch 17-7 Selborne
Rondebosch 16-7 Midstream
Selborne College
Selborne 7-17 Rondebosch
Selborne 8-16 St Andrew’s
Midstream College
Midstream 4-17 St Andrew’s
Midstream 7-17 Rondebosch
Cross-pool playoffs (5-8)
St John’s College
St John’s 15-6 Grey High
St John’s 18-5 Michaelhouse
Grey High
Grey High 6-15 St John’s
Grey High 15-6 York
Michaelhouse
Michaelhouse 14-7 York
Michaelhouse 5-18 St John’s
York High
York 6-15 Grey High
York 7-14 Michaelhouse
GIRLS
Section 1
Epworth
Epworth 18-3 Clarendon
Epworth 20-3 Roedean
Epworth 20-0 Kingswood
Kingswood College
Kingswood 16-8 Clarendon
Kingswood 0-20 Epworth
Kingswood 19-7 Roedean
Roedean
Roedean 14-7 Clarendon
Roedean 3-20 Epworth
Roedean 7-19 Kingswood
Clarendon
Clarendon 3-20 Epworth
Clarendon 7-14 Roedean
Clarendon 8-16 Kingswood
Section 2
Midstream College
Midstream 16-7 Eunice
Midstream 20-0 St Mary’s Waverley
Midstream 20-1 Rustenburg Girls’ High
Eunice
Eunice
Eunice 7-16 Midstream
Eunice 17-7 St Mary’s Waverley
Eunice 20-1 Rustenburg Girls’ High
St Mary’s Waverley
St Mary’s 0-20 Midstream
St Mary’s 7-17 Eunice
St Mary’s 19-4 Rustenburg
Rustenburg Girls’ High
Rustenburg 1-20 Midstream
Rustenburg 1-20 Eunice
Rustenburg 4-19 St Mary’s
Cross-pool playoffs (1-4)
Epworth
Epworth 17-6 Midstream
Epworth 20-3 Eunice
Midstream College
Midstream 6-17 Epworth
Midstream 18-3 Kingswood
Eunice
Eunice 3-20 Epworth
Eunice 16-6 Kingswood
Kingswood
Kingswood 3-18 Midstream
Kingswood 6-16 Eunice
Cross-pool playoffs (5-8)
St Mary’s Waverley
St Mary’s 18-9 Roedean
St Mary’s 16-8 Clarendon
Roedean
Roedean 9-18 St Mary’s
Roedean 18-4 Roedean
Clarendon
Clarendon 8-14 St Mary’s
Clarendon 20-1 Rustenburg
Rustenburg
Rustenburg 4-18 Roedean
Rustenburg 1-20 Clarendon
