After overwhelming Pretoria Boys High in their Kearsney Tennis Tournament opener, Westville Boys’ High comfortably defeated Gray College in what was likely to be their toughest tie in Group Alcaraz on Friday afternoon, to set themselves up for a tilt at the final on Saturday.
The tournament, founded in 1996 by Kearsney College Deputy Headmaster Ant Willows, brings together the cream of South Africa’s boys’ schools’ tennis teams. Willows has overseen every one of its 28 editions. It would have been 29 this year, but Covid-19 accounted for a one-year break.
On Saturday morning, Westville had too much firepower for Rondebosch Boys’ High, cruising to a 24-0 victory. They were far from alone, however, with Affies repeating that scoreline against St David’s, Paul Roos doing the same against Kearsneyand Gray College replicating it in a win over Pretoria Boys High.
A third win on the trot secured top spot in Group Alcaraz for Westville, which meant they would make Group Sinner runners-up, Affies, for a place in the title-decider. Paul Roos, as the Group Sinner winners, took on Gray College.
The Griffin won emphatically again, brushing aside Affies 18-0. Paul Roos, meanwhile, rolled to a 16-6 victory over Gray College to ensure that the 2024 final would be a repeat of last year’s, which Westville won to lay claim to the title for a first time.
Paul Roos will go into Sunday morning’s tie seeking a 15th Kearsney Tennis Tournament crown.
In other Saturday afternoon clashes, Kearsney had Pretoria Boys High’s number, recording a convincing 16-3 win, while Rondebosch saw off St David’s 13-6 in a tightly contested tie.
The final takes place at Kearsney on Sunday morning, as does the fifth-place playoff between the hosts and Rondebosch.
Affies and Gray will duke it out at Highbury for third, while it’s St David’s vs Pretoria Boys High at St Mary’s for seventh.
FIXTURES
1st/2nd – Paul Roos vs Westville at Kearsney
3rd/4th – Affies vs Gray at Highbury
5th/6th – Kearsney vs Rondebosch at Kearsney
7th/8th – St David’s vs Pretoria Boys at St Mary’s
A product of Clifton (Nottingham Road) and St Andrew’s School (Bloemfontein), Brad Morgan played schools’ provincial cricket and hockey. He has worked in radio, online and for newspapers. He also previously handled media matters for the Natal Canoe Club, which hosts the Dusi Canoe Marathon, and for the Midmar Mile. Brad has, moreover, co-authored books on the Dusi Canoe Marathon and the Comrades Marathon. He holds no particular biases towards South African sports teams but, beyond South Africa’s borders, is a big fan of the Green Bay Packers and Liverpool FC. Brad enjoys photography and music, and likes working to some good dub techno in the background.
Tags: SuperSport Schools Westville Paul Roos Kearsney Tennis Tournament title
