• Eastern Province women hold their nerve to edge Northerns in Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa: Western Province (WP) A will become the latest team to try to stop the South African Country Districts (SACD) A juggernaut when they clash in the men’s final of the Growthpoint Interprovincial squash tournament in Cape Town on Friday.

With the prestigious Jarvis Cup trophy at stake, both sides came through their playoff matches on Thursday relatively comfortably.

Under the captaincy of JP Brits, SACD A will be chasing their fourth title in a row, and they have not dropped a match this week yet.

On Thursday, SACD A No 3 Jonty Matthys lost the second game against Sipho Ncube but regrouped to win 3-1 and then Brits and No 1 Dewald van Niekerk, the three-time Growthpoint national champion, sealed matters with the 3-0 results.

WP A, who were tipped by Brits before the tournament as a team to watch, were also impressive against Northerns A despite losing at No 1 as Damian Groenewald showed his class against Mighael Lombard.

Clinton Leeuw, Ian Oosthuizen and Justin van der Poel all won in straight games to ensure the home supporters will have something to cheer about in the final showdown.

In the women’s Kaplan Cup, Western Province A are set to record their first triumph since 2013 after Eastern Province A beat second-placed Northerns A in a ferocious encounter on Thursday.

The Eastern Province (EP) outfit won 17-9 but it could so easily have gone the other way, with three of the five ties going the full distance.

In two of them, the EP players trailed their opponents as Jacqui Ryder fell behind 2-0 against Awande Malinga and Kacey-Leigh Dodd was 2-1 down against Helena Hudson. Each time, though, EP found a way to victory, and No 1 Hayley Ward secured the win with a 3-0 result against Kimberley McDonald.

Lara Patrick was the only winner for Northerns A, while Jordin Phillips put up a great fight against Bianca Keeley, finally losing 11-7 in the fifth game.

The latest standings have Western Province (WP) A, who had a bye on Thursday, leading the way on 59 points, with Friday’s match against Northerns A to decide the final positions.

Northerns are on 41 points and would have to pull off a genuine miracle to make up the deficit.

Thursday’s results were:

Growthpoint Interprovincial Squash Tournament

Cape Town, South Africa

Women’s Kaplan Cup

Eastern Province A bt Northerns A 17-9 (EP first): Hayley Ward bt Kimberley McDonald 3-0 (12-10 11-3 11-8), Kacey-Leigh Dodd bt Helena Hudson 3-2 (9-11 11-6 7-11 12-10 11-3), Jacqui Ryder bt Awande Malinga 3-2 (8-11 8-11 11-8 11-4 12-10), Anlen Jarman lost to Lara Patrick 3-0 (11-6 11-5 11-3), Bianca Keeley bt Jordin Phillips 3-2 (11-6 13-15 11-6 5-11 11-7)

Joburg Squash A bt SA Country Districts A 16-11 (Joburg first): Teagan Russell bt Alexa Pienaar 3-2 (8-11 12-10 7-11 14-12 11-7), Shannon Harvey lost to Lizelle Muller 3-0 (11-1 11-5 11-4), Tayla Dunn bt Alouise Campher 3-2 (8-11 8-11 11-8 11-4 11-4), Gill van Vlaanderen bt Lisa Venter 3-1 (11-7 5-11 11-9 11-6), Bongi Seroto lost to Kyla Hartzenberg 3-2 (11-9 14-12 4-11 9-11 11-7)

Latest log: WP A 59 (3), Northerns A 41 (3), EP A 39 (3), Joburg Squash A 26 (4), SACD A 19 (3)

Men’s Jarvis Cup

Top four playoffs:

SA Country Districts A bt Joburg Squash A 20-1 (SACD A first): Dewald van Niekerk bt Christo Potgieter 3-0 (11-7 11-3 11-7), JP Brits bt Luke Jacoby 3-0 (11-3 11-6 11-0), Jonty Matthys bt Sipho Ncube 3-1 (11-4 8-11 11-9 11-6), Reuel Videler bt Ethan Robinson 3-0 (11-2 11-3 11-9), Gareth Craigen bt Mark Dunn 3-0 (11-4 11-6 13-11)

Western Province A bt Northerns A 17-5 (WP first): Mighael Lombard lost to Dewald Groenewald 3-0 (11-9 11-5 11-9), Clinton Leeuw bt Jarrod Cousins 3-0 (11-9 12-10 11-4), Ian Oosthuizen bt Mark Schickerling 3-0 (11-4 11-5 11-7), Rodney Durbach bt Reece McLachlan 3-2 (11-6 14-12 7-11 6-11 11-9), Justin van der Poel bt Brett McLachlan 3-0 (17-15 11-5 11-2)

Bottom four playoffs:

Joburg Squash B bt Zambia A (Joburg Squash first): Diodivine Mkhize lost to Sam Siame 3-0 (11-3 11-2 11-3), Brian Mncube bt Manda Chilambwe 3-1 (8-11 11-7 11-7 11-9), Jordan Wilkinson bt Elvis Ngosa 3-0 (11-4 11-9 11-4), David Sibanda v Samuel Kabwe – to be confirmed, Amukelani Zitha bt Changa Mubanga 3-2 (8-11 9-11 11-4 11-5 11-8)

KwaZulu-Natal A bt SA Country Districts B 17-9 (KZN first): Luke Bakke bt Warren Bower 3-2 (6-11 11-4 1-11 12-10 11-6), Daniel Smith lost to Luke van Vuuren 3-0 (11-6 11-3 11-4), Justin de Neef bt Johan Venter 3-2 (4-11 11-8 10-12 11-5 11-4), Adrian Hansen bt Hayden Worth 3-2 (9-11 2-11 11-8 11-9 11-6), Robert Moody bt Etienne Schutte 3-0 (11-5 11-6 11-3)