THE South African Canoe Polo Championship was held at Emmarentia Dam in Johannesburg over the weekend of March 7 to 8, with the traditionally strong Gauteng sides starting as favourites.
Teams from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape entered a mixture of men’s and mixed teams in two categories: u.21 and senior. Traditional rivals Gauteng and KZN were given more than a run for their money by the teams from the Western Cape.
Saturday March 7 was a day of pool games, which continued into the first part of Sunday March 8. Play was competitive and entertaining for the spectators, as the teams settled in to play hard with each other and to feel out the opposition.
In the latter part of Sunday morning, the competition became fierce as the teams entered semi-final and finals stages.
The u.21 category saw Gauteng Scouts proved their mettle, playing for the first time in a competition and enjoying games of a high standard. In this category the competition was between Gauteng u.21 and Aurecon Western Cape u.21. After 20 minutes, with no score, the game went to Golden Goal. Western Cape team just pipped Gauteng to the post.
In the senior division, KZN’s mixed team played Western Cape, who beat them in the play-off for third and fourth place. The match of the tournament was the senior final, between two Gauteng teams: Gauteng men and Gauteng Barbarians. The battle was fought between the two local sides, with the score see-sawing back-and-forth, ending in a draw. The game went to Golden Goal and the Gauteng Barbarians paddled away with the gold.
The results were:
Under 21: Gold – Aurecon Western Cape u.21; silver – Gauteng u.21; bronze – Gauteng Scouts.
Senior: Gold – Gauteng Barbarians; silver – Gauteng Men; bronze – Western Cape
