THE 32nd World Mounted Games team championships were held at the Royal Pietermaritzburg Showgrounds from July 12 to 15 and ended on a high note.
Felicia Rowan, PR for the South Africa Mounted Games Association said, “We are glad it’s over but good fun was had by all. Yes, we pulled it off with very few snags and were extremely grateful for the help and support received from the visitors and their riders.”
Altogether, 10 international teams competed. A random draw was made for the first of four sessions but then the Games Pro system worked out the teams for the following three sessions. Scores for each session were carried forward to the fourth session.
There were seven lanes so the top seven teams competed in the A-final and the other three in the B-final. Each team was hoping to make the A-final. All scores went back to zero for the two final sessions.
“We were holding our own in the first final session when Megan Marr had a fall, landed on her knee and tore ligaments. The reserve rider, Jayme Tegg, was then substituted.”
“Jayme, meanwhile, was playing in the Sixth Rider competition and was well in the lead. By moving to the team event she was restricted as to the number of games she could play and could not compete further in both competitions. Even though Jamie did not ride her last session in the Sixth Rider competition, she still placed third overall. This competition was won by Australia.”
Pressure mounted in the final session when some mistakes were made by the South African riders and they were overtaken by Wales. Ireland was already in the lead.
Nevertheless, South Africa finished third overall and were crowned Southern Hemisphere team champions. Wales received the trophy for runners up and for the Best Nation to compete in the first ever World Team championship.
The South Africans did very well considering they were playing against some of the strongest world squads who have permanent coaches and far more international competition than they are able to compete in.
All six South African riders competed in the final competition – five adults and one u-17 rider, (the reserve). Gauteng rider Daniel Ferreira from the South and KZN rider Megan Marr will receive Protea colours in due course. The other riders including Megan Frost, Kyle Trollip and Tomas Forsythe received their colours after competing in Ireland at the 2016 World Team Championship while Jayme Tegg has received junior colours after competing in the u-17 competition, also held in Ireland.
The 33rd World Team Championships will take place in Belgium in 2018 and South Africa hope to field a team.
“In the meantime, Our South Africa Nations team is gearing up for the Southern Hemisphere competition which will take place at Kentucky Park, in September this year. We are hoping that our head coach, Megan Marr, will be well enough to travel with the team as their Coach/Manager,” said Felicia Rowan.
For more details regarding mounted games in Gauteng, contact Felicia at felicia.rowan@gmail.com.
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