Four SA teams off to World Champs

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KNYSNA NEWS - Canoe polo once again flooded the Knysna Waterfront from 21 to 23 September as Knysna Canoe Club (KCC) played host to not only the African Canoe Polo Championships but also the African Canoe Polo Tournament.

The championships were contested between only South Africa and Namibia, but this didn't detract from the number of participants in the tournament that brought together all of the SA canoe polo teams to battle it out on the waterfront.

The format of the tournament was simple: the SA Senior and U21 Women's teams, SA Senior A and B, U21A and B Men's teams, Knysna Masters, and finally the Namibian Senior and U21 Men's teams playing out in a pool stage and subsequent knockout rounds to determine a winner.

Albeit not part of the championships, the tournament was simply a way for the national teams to dust off their oars and take part in highly competitive clashes to provide as much practice as possible for the world championships next year.

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The SA Women's teams couldn't take part in the African Champs due to there being no other competitors, and because of this both the SA U21 and Senior Women's teams have earned automatic qualification for the world championships.

Kyle Laxton gets his fingertips on the ball, narrowly missing possession.

The action got under way on Saturday 21 September with seven warm-up games between the South African teams, and the official tournament took place on Sunday 22 September with a clash between the Namibian Senior Men's and SA U21A Men's teams.

The first African Champs match of the weekend came at 11:00 on Sunday between the Namibian and SA U21 Men's teams, with Namibia winning this clash, followed directly by a match between the Namibian and SA Senior Men's teams where SA won. Over the two days of the championships, the sides would play each other two more times, with Namibia winning two of the three matches in the U21 division while in the Senior Men's Division, SA won all three games.

The final day of the tournament, Monday 23 September, kicked off with the last two pool games before knockout stages commenced. The tournament final was played just after midday, between SA and Namibia's Senior Men, and SA crowned the victors. The Namibian U21 Men's team finished third, defeating the SA Senior Men's B team in the third-place playoff.

Crowds were once again out in full support of the canoe polo.