Westville edge Grey, open path to festival final

5 May 2023

After day one of the Spar Kearsney College Tennis Festival, Westville Boys’ High has emerged as a hot favourite to make it through to the final. Defending champions, Paul Roos, were in imperious form in their two ties, but a looming cross-pool playoff against Grey College could be their undoing.

The key clash in Group Federer took place at Saint Mary’s DSG on Friday afternoon between Westville and Grey College, with the Griffin snatching a narrow 14-12 victory.

With Grey thumping Saint David’s Marist Inanda 24-0 and Westville racing to a 24-1 win over Pretoria Boys’ High, it’s clear that Westville is primed to play for the crown, which has not been won by a KZN school since Kearsney shared it with Waterkloof in 1997, the second year that the annual event was held.

SA’s best on show at Spar Kearsney Tennis Festival | Pinnacle Schools (pinnacle-schools.com)

In the day’s other Group Federer meeting, Pretoria Boys’ High ran out 19-6 winners over Saint David’s Marist Inanda. It’s the Johannesburg school that Westville Boys’ High face in their last group tie.

Meanwhile, in Group Nadal, Paul Roos cruised to two convincing victories, defeating Affies 22-3 and Rondebosch Boys 24-0.

Kearsney College lost a nail-biter to Affies, which could have easily gone the other way, by a 12-13 margin, but they managed a comfortable 19-7 win over Rondebosch in their other match.

Just one group tie is left for each school before the cross-pool playoffs. Then, the biggest clash on Saturday is likely to be a cross-pool showdown between Paul Roos and Grey College in the afternoon. That could go either way.

It appears, though, that Westville Boys’ High should have an easier ride when they take on the second placed team from Group Nadal. They’re a solid bet to go through to Sunday morning’s final, to be played at Kearsney College on courts 1, 2 and 6.

Few schools have as rich a tennis history as the Griffin. Their list of tennis pros includes Robbie Koenig, Ellis Ferreira, Kirk Haygarth, Royce Deppe, Myles Wakefield, and Grant Adams. However, they will consider a Spar Kearsney Tennis Festival title a hole in their record of achievements. Now, they have a good chance to fill in that gap.

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