Sithole holds up at Masters
The sixteen year old held his own against the adults at national level...

The fifteenth annual Lowveld Masters Tournament took place this month at the Nelspruit squash courts at Van Riebeeck Park. Number one ranked youngster, Wayne Sithole followed in his father Givemore’s shoes when he stood his ground against some far more experienced players on the day.
Teams from all across the province including Gauteng made the trek to the Lowveld where the tournament was comprised of four men’s categories and two ladies categories. The local men struggled a little this time round, not managing to follow through on last year’s successes. The Men’s A team managed a close second on 46 points with the stronger Southern Suburbs clinching first place on 53 points. Lowveld’s B side landed on the podium in third with their score of 35 points, ten points behind second placed Midlands on 45 and an arm’s length from the winners, Gary o’Brian Invitational, who tallied 48 points on the day.
The Men’s C team managed a fourth spot in their section while the boys in the D team finished last in their category on 12 points.
Out classing their male counterparts, the two local ladies teams, both landed some silverware when the A team finished their round in second place on 39 points, eight points behind the winners from Gauteng who managed a score of 47. The B team ladies fought hard for their second spot on 35 points but were unable to catch the much stronger team from Easterns who completely controlled the pool from the get go to score a massive 54 points in total.
As always there was much to celebrate and every player enjoyed the social festivities after the tournament to their fullest. Most made new friends while others engaged with longtime acquaintances.
This was the 15th installment of the popular event and those involved in the squash circles locally are awaiting with great anticipation, the invites for the next chapter in 2014.
A special mention has to be made of the local youngster Sithole, who recently competed in the South African National tournament in the adult category. He was part of the SA Country Districts team. “We had to obtain special permission from Steve Doeg, the President of Squash SA, for Wayne to play in the tournament as the organizers felt that he was too young,” said Vanessa Christensen of Mpumalanga Squash. “Not only was he awarded the covetted Most Promising Male Player Award, but was also complimented on his exemplary behaviour on and off the court.”
The sixteen year old competed against adult players on national level and managed to lose only one of his matches. “We are very proud of this young man and will continue to support him in the future as he excells in this wonderful game.”