Kearsney hosts tennis festival

SOUTH Africa’s top tennis schools provided a dazzling weekend of play, with Paul Roos from Stellenbosch edging out Bloemfontein’s Grey College by a narrow 5/4 margin in the final (13 to 15 May).

The weather played its part to ensure three days of outstanding tennis from the eight participating teams, each competing for the sought-after title of the 21st annual Top Schools Tennis Festival hosted by Kearsney College.

Initial rounds of the tournament were played on a round-robin basis, followed by play-offs, semis and the final. The competitive team from Affies placed third ahead of Pretoria Boys’ High.

This year, Seeff was the headline sponsor, with Sportsman’s Warehouse, Wilson and Alpine Motors also offering sponsorship to South Africa’s longest-running school tennis tournament. Tim Johnson and Brett Botsis from Seeff uMhlanga and Dolphin Coast said they were delighted with the high standard of tennis and sportsmanship evident throughout the weekend.

Results of the round-robin stages:

Grey College beat Kearsney 8/1, Affies beat Stellenbosch High School 9/0, Kearsney beat Stellenbosch 6/3, Grey beat Affies 7/2, Affies beat Kearsney 8/1, Grey beat Stellenbosch 9/0.

Paul Roos beat Clifton 9/0, Pretoria Boys’ beat Selborne College 6/3, Paul Roos beat Selborne 9/0, Pretoria beat Clifton 9/0, Paul Roos beat Pretoria Boys’ 7/2, Selborne beat Clifton 7/2.

Semi-finals:

Paul Roos beat Affies 5/1. Grey beat Pretoria Boys 6/3.

Play-offs:

Kearsney beat Clifton 6/3. Selborne beat Stellenbosch 5/1. 3/4 position – Affies beat Pretoria 5/3. 5/6 position – Selborne beat Kearsney 5/1. 7/8 position- Clifton beat Stellenbosch 5/3.

Final positions:

1. Paul Roos

2. Grey College (Bloemfontein)

3. Affies

4. Pretoria Boys’

5. Selborne College

6. Kearsney College

7. Clifton College

8. Stellenbosch High School