Last year’s champions, Bishops and St Stithians College Girls, got their respective Saints Invitational Water Polo Tournament title defences off on the right foot, picking up two solid wins each.
Bishops opened their Pool B campaign with an 11-6 win over Michaelhouse, followed by a 20-3 drubbing of Pretoria Boys High (PBHS).
Reddam House Constantia also made a play for top honours in the group with a close 8-6 win over St Benedict’s before sailing to a 13-8 win over Michaelhouse.
The hosts, St Stithians, headed into the competition buoyed by a successful title run at the Top Schools Water Polo Tournament last week, and they made their presence felt in Pool D, comfortably defeating Affies and Woodridge. St John’s College kept pace with wins over King Edward VII (KES) and Affies.
Last year’s runner-up, SACS, endured mixed fortunes. Contesting Pool C, the Capetonians stumbled in their first match, suffering a 4-9 loss to Hilton College.
They found Durban High School (DHS) to be an easier proposition and recorded an 11-3 win in their second outing. They trail Grey High and Hilton, who registered two wins each.
Kearsney College and Rondebosch Boys’ High established themselves as the teams to beat in Pool A, with both winning twice. Kearsney shrugged off challenges from St Andrew’s College and Jeppe, while Rondebosch accounted for St Peter’s and Jeppe.
Girls’ section
St Stithians was the only side to record two wins in Pool D. They edged out St Mary’s Waverley 4-2 before cruising to a 14-3 victory over Woodridge. Each of the other three teams claimed a win each, but they have a lot of work to do to overtake Saints.
One of the tournament favourites, Herschel, suffered a 6-9 loss to Clarendon in their opener. They licked their wounds and came back strongly in their second match, rolling to a mammoth 34-1 win over Crawford Lonehill. That was the day’s highest margin of victory in either competition.
With the win, Herschel matched Durban Girls’ College (DGC), with one win and one less. Clarendon tops Pool B after scoring back-to-back wins.
Another side on which to keep an eye, St Anne’s, made a strong start and leads Pool A after wins over Pearson High and Kingsmead College. They ended the day as the only team in the group with two wins.
The Eastern Cape’s DSG Makhanda and Collegiate emerged as front-runners in Pool C with two wins apiece. Both defeated Roedean and Danville Park in their first two matches.
The action resumes on Friday morning with three contests scheduled to start at 07:00. Pearson takes to the water against Kingsmead, Clarendon takes on Crawford Lonehill, and DSG faces Collegiate, respectively.
The boys’ action starts at 07:50 with Jeppe facing St Peter’s, while Michaelhouse takes on Pretoria Boys High.
Results
Boys
Pool A
Kearsney 11-7 St Andrew’s
Rondebosch 17-1 Jeppe
St Andrew’s 15-2 St Peter’s
Kearsney 18-4 Jeppe
Rondebosch 24-5 St Peter’s
Pool B
Reddam Constantia 8-5 St Benedict’s
Bishops 11-6 Michaelhouse
St Benedict’s 8-6 PBHS
Reddam Constantia 13-8 Michaelhouse
Bishops 20-3 PBHS
Pool C
Grey High 8-2 St David’s
Hilton 9-4 SACS
Grey High 9-4 DHS
Hilton 9-2 St David’s
SACS 11-3 DHS
Pool D
St John’s 6-5 KES
St Stithians 8-3 Affies
KES 8-6 Woodridge
St John’s 8-2 Affies
St Stithians 13-6 Woodridge
Girls
Pool A
Reddam Bedfordview 11-1 Beaulieu College
St Anne’s 4-2 Pearson
Kingsmead 11-4 Beaulieu
Pearson 7-4 Reddam Bedfordview
St Anne’s 10-2 Kingsmead
Pool B
DGC 7-6 St Peter’s
Clarendon 9-6 Herschel
St Peter’s 22-3 Crawford Lonehill
Clarendon 8-5 DGC
Herschel 34-1 Crawford Lonehill
Pool C
DSG 6-1 Roedean
Collegiate 5-3 Danville Park
DSG 9-8 Reddam Constantia
Collegiate 3-0 Roedean
Reddam Constantia 15-4 Danville Park
Pool D
Kingswood 15-4 St Dominic’s
St Stithians 4-2 St Mary’s Waverley
St Dominic’s 4-4 Woodridge
St Mary’s Waverley 6-3 Kingswood
St Stithians 14-3 Woodridge
