Ekurhuleni, KZN threaten at SA U-23 IPT

Ekurhuleni kept the pressure on log leaders Gauteng North with a second consecutive A-Section victory, while KwaZulu-Natal strengthened their promotion bid in the South African U-23 Inter-Provincial Championship at Royal Durban Country Club on Tuesday.

Ekurhuleni drew 2-all in their foursomes against North West Province, and turned the match in their favour by winning five singles to win 7 – 5.

Top junior Kyle McClatchie led the way for Ekurhuleni with a 2 & 1 victory over Stephen Allen, while reigning Nomads SA Boys U-19 Match Play champion Paul Boshoff, SA Stroke Play runner-up Stefan Cronje and NJ Arnoldi further boosted the side’s tally. The country’s number one ranked amateur, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, defeated North West number one, Aubrey Beckley, 2 & 1 to add the final point to their victory.

Although Ekurhuleni and Gauteng North both have four points, the defending champions kept their position at the top of log with 1.5 game points, courtesy of a 7.5 – 4.5 victory over neighbouring Central Gauteng.

Gauteng North took a 2.5 – 1.5 lead in the foursomes, while Marco Loubser, Adriel Poonan, Andrew van der Knaap, James du Preez and Jason Smith served up the winning points to keep the side’s title defence on track.

Western Province defeated Limpopo 6.5 – 5.5 in the final A-Section match.

KwaZulu-Natal was the only team to win two consecutive matches in the promotion battle.

The local heroes moved to the top of the B-Section log after mowing down Eastern Province on day one, and climbed two points clear of Boland and the Eastern Province after a solid show against Free State.

The coastal side led 3-1 after the foursomes and wrapped up a 9 – 3 victory with halves from Keagan Thomas and Nishalin Nelson, and single wins from Gregory McKay, Matt Saulez, Malcolm Mitchell, Leorin Pillay and Clayton Mansfield.

Eastern Province avenged their first round loss by handing Mpumalanga a 9.5 – 2.5 drubbing, while Boland held on for a share of second with EP despite a 7 – 5 loss to Southern Cape.

A-SECTION LOG

(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)

1 Gauteng North (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 17.0)

2 Ekurhuleni (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 15.5)

3 Western Province (2, 1, 1, 0, 3, 12.5)

4 Central Gauteng (2, 0, 1, 1, 1, 10.5)

5 Limpopo (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 9.0)

6 North West Province (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 7.5)

B-SECTION LOG

(Pos-Union-Played-Won-Drawn-Lost-Points-Matches won)

1 KwaZulu Natal (2, 2, 0, 0, 4, 17.5)

T2 Boland (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 13.0)

T2 Eastern Province (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 13.0)

4 Southern Cape (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 11.5)

5 Free State (2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 10.5)

6 Mpumalanga (2, 0, 0, 2, 0, 6.5)

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