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Juniors tops in Bloemfontein

The Northerns junior players achieved very good results at the recently held Bloemfontein Junior Open tournament. Northerns won all but one of the boys sections! Callan Hall won boys u19, Mikael Clayton won boys u16, Damian Groenewald won boys u13 and Liam van der Merwe won boys u11. Awande Malinga won the u11 girls section.

Callan was seeded #3 and played the following matches:

  • R1 – vs Martin Lindeque : won 3/0
  • R2 – vs his cousin Blaine Verhage : won 3/0
  • R3 – vs Sipho Ncube who had beaten the # 6 seed in the R2 : won 3/1
  • R4 – vs John Kuhn #2 and who Callan has never beaten before : won 3/0
  • Finals – vs Wayne Sithole #1 : won 3/2 (14/12 in 5th after Wayne was 10/7 up and had another match point at 12/11)

The full results can be seen on the Squash SA website.

 

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Northerns Masters perform at Nationals

A number of Northerns players participated in the National Masters Championships held at Parkview Squash Centre earlier this month. Here are some of the notable results:

  • Men 35-39: Craig Ruane 2nd, Giovanni Raffa 5th
  • Men 40-44: Jason Phillips 4th, Mark Southwood 5th
  • Men 45-49: Peter Mclachlan 5th
  • Men 50-54: Conrad van der Merwe 5th
  • Men 55-59: Trevor Wilkinson 1st, Hugh Wallace 3rd, Peter Carey 4th
  • Men 60-64: Johnny Orsmond 1st
  • Men 65-69: Gordon Daniel 2nd, Arthur Dyason 4th
  • Men 70+: Pieter Swart 2nd
  • Ladies 45-49: Delana de Jongh 2nd
  • Ladies 55-59: Mandi Joubert 2nd

NSA Satellite Final results

The final round of the NSA satellite produced great squash and thrilling finals. The men’s C section was won by 14 year old Reece McLachlan in a tight 5 game battle over Ian Forbes. The B section final saw Justin cook prevail 3-1 over Kyle Schoeman in the most one sided final of the day. The ladies final was a closely fought battle between Makgosi Paloakgosi and Christine Ferreira. At 2/1 up Makgosi held the upper hand but Christine dug deep to prevail in 5 tough games. The mens final was a thrilling and fast paced affair between the top two seeds, Kelvin Ndhlovu and Christo Potgieter. As in the womens final, Kelvin took a 2/1 lead only for Christo to force his way back into the match with thrilling court coverage and amazing shot making. Christo was a well deserved winner after a hard and fair contest between the two. Other notable results on the day saw Charles Fourie prevail 17/15 in the 5th against Jacques Kruger and Rudolph Coetzer pull through in 5 games against Blessing Muhwati. In the women’s draw Mariska Wiese prevailed in 5 tough games against Megan Page. Thank you to PCC for their facilities and the Northerns Committee and Steel and Pipes for sponsoring the tournament.
NSA Satelite draw

NSA Satellite 3rd Round

3rd round results attached, Highlights included a great tussle between Ruan Olivier and Alwyn Venter with the Northerns player, Ruan eventually pulling through. A great effort after his toungh 5 game loss in the morning. This was followed by a titanic battle between Kyle Maree and Kundanji Kalengo where Kundanji prevailed in a tight 5 games. So far the top2 mens seeds, Kelvin Ndhlovu and Christo Potgieter have moved through the draw relatively untroubled. A great final is expected from about 11am. In the ladies draw both top seed Christine Ferreira and Makgosi Peloakgosi have moved smoothly through the draw. Christine won a close 5 game match at the recent Wits Grand Prix so another good final is predicted. From about 10am. Final round of matches start at PCC from 8:00.
NSA Satelite draw

NSA Satellite Round 2 Results

Results of the 2nd round. Highlights were the tremendous match between Gareth Naidoo and Ruan Olivier in the Mens A Section and between Megan Page and Cara Fourie in the Womens section. Mention must also be made of Jonty Mathys in the Mens B Section. After beating top seed Hannes Schoeman last night he found himself 2 love down this morning. He fought back to 8 all in the fifth game before he was overcome with cramp and had to concede.
NSA Satelite draw

NSA Satellite 1st Round results

Herewith the 1st round results of the NSA Satellite. No major surprises but match of the day undoubtedly the titanic struggle between Jacques Kruger and the in form Kyle Maree, winner of the recent Wits Grand Prix. Fantastic matches on Saturday morning and afternoon consisting mostly of SA top 20 players.
NSA Satelite draw

NSA Satellite 1 Draw

The draw for the NSA Satellite 1 to be held at PCC from Friday 18 March – Sunday 20 March. Players are requested to please try to be at the courts 30 minutes before their scheduled playing time. Players will also need to mark after they have played.PLease note that the ladies draw is on a seperate page.
NSA Satelite draw

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Results of the NJSA Open

Please find attached results from this weekend’s tournament – NJSA Open results March 2016.

Thank you once again for your commitment and albeit we did have a few withdrawals the weekend turned out to be a good one for those in attendance.

This tournament was a little different with a lot fewer top ranked players (They played in the Bloem Open last weekend and are playing in the SA Schools Closed this weekend).

The result thereof was to allow our mid to lower players to compete for honours and a little glory this year.

The Swiss Paring did create some confusion as it was probably the 1st time for many however, once again it puts a different perspective to the weekend, creates opportunities for players who ordinarily do not play, to play against each other and provide a few “shock” results, which it did!

The SA Country Festival takes place 29 April – 01 May and our organiser will be in touch shortly regarding participation, costing, logistics etc.

Please diarise 06 – 08 MAY which is the NJSA Closed Tournament.  A COMPULSORY Tournament for provincial selection all our top players will be back and we want all of this weekend’s attendee’s to participate as well.

Thanks once again for the weekend, keep the kids practising and on the courts, see you around the various clubs and at the Closed in 2-months’ time.

Regards

Brett Cousins

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NJSA Open draw March 2016

I need to STRESS that the approach to be taken going forward will be a lot stricter with respect to applying special requests.  This tournament format does not allow for requests and I had to exclude half a dozen players from this weekend.  This was the reason for the delayed release for Friday.

The formats vary based on age group so please study your sections.  The various formats are

  1. Round Robin (RR): The std format we have used this year
  2. Swiss Pairing (SP): Seeded section, winners keep the higher seeded position to the next round and the loser the lower seeded position.
  3. Combo (SP & RR): Rounds 1 & 2 are SP and then the section is divided into Pools and RR follows
  4. Prelim: Some sections has Prelims to ascertain the final seeding and then the section follows either 1, 2, or 3 above

So we are trying to make it fun and a little different and hopefully keep up the player excitement.

This tournament is sandwiched between two major schools tournaments – the recently held Bloem Open (which attracts 500 players!) and the SA Schools Champs (Top 4 per age group per province attend).  Therefor this weekend provides a great opportunity for the mid to lower seeded players to really show their mettle and challenge for a placing and some prize money; so as parents, please encourage; don’t discourage.  Every child is giving their all, lets support this.

Fundamentals:

  • Two venues (PCC and Pretoria High School Old Boys) are being used so please pay attention to which venue you have been allocated
  • Please report to the court supervisors table before your 1st match of the day so they are aware you are present
  • Arrive at least 30 minutes before your scheduled match
  • Losers mark and Winners ref the match immediately following theirs
  • Players playing the 2nd scheduled match of each day must please arrive early and Mark the 1st match of the day
  • Court Supervisors will be on duty and are the ONLY authorised personnel to assist with marking
  • The Tournament Referee’s decision will be considered final

As I have mentioned before, the tournament is about the players, not the parents so please respect the players and court supervisors.

Do not interfere with the marking, rather call a court supervisor.

Have fun…let your child enjoy the weekend, it is tough on the court so make it easier for them off the court by showing your gratitude.

NJSA Open 2016 Friday Draw

Brett Cousins

NSA Satellite tournament

  • Date: 18-20 March 2016
  • Entries close: 11 March 2016
  • Venue: Pretoria Country Club
  • Convenor: Mark Southwood (082 705 5064)
  • Any queries should be directed to the convenor

Enter on the NSA tournament page under the tournaments tab.