PAUL IN THE ZONE, MADLALA STUCK IN RELEGATION, ALMOST A DOUBLE FOR BIRTHDAY BOY!
If you had asked Nsovo on Friday what he’d want for his 21st birthday this year, the answer would have easily been ‘A win in both my matches in Cape Town this weekend and to get out of the red-zone’, ok Nsovo the tooth-fairy heard you but you have got to throw more than just one dime into the wishing well if you want a favour as big as this one next time. Birthday boy was in jovial mood and fired up when he took on a gallant Yazeed on Saturday in a match that ended very quickly. Ace said that Nsovo gave him absolutely no chance and practically played alone and the 4-1, 4-1 result justifies these claims. Maybe Ace was just being kind to Nsovo in lieu of bringing him cake. Sandile Madlala will win a popularity contest by a landslide but when it comes to producing results on the pool table as far as the BPL goes I’d say you have a better chance getting Joseph Mourinho to accept defeat without causing a furore than you would get a positive result if you are a member of the Sandile Camp. But those Naismith goals were just brilliant weren’t they, oh before I forget GGMU and sorry Liverpool, Martial Law is mean.
Like a corn farmer waiting for the rain, the Madlala Legacy fans have been waiting for a win from the maestro for a stretch now. Believe it or not Legacy hasn’t won a single point in 5 consecutive matches. It all started in his homeland in KZN, with Yulan and the Viper putting him to sleep and perhaps Kyle used too much venom and Legacy never really fully recovered. In terms of sets lost, it is now 10-0 against Sandile whose Legacy has taken a huge knock. I find it hard to believe that everyone seems to always beat Sandile 2-0 and both Paul and Ace must have got the memo and they didn’t disappoint, this dismal streak of results places Legacy in unfamiliar relegation territory as he finds himself deep in the red with only 23 points and only 3/9 wins. Paul beat Sandile 4-3 in both sets but Ace was in beast mode and he was not going to lose both matches in his backyard and a 4-3, 4-0 outcome was enough to guarantee Ace a first round 3rd place finish. Fans and friends of Nsovo had to put the champagne back on the ice after Paul spoiled the party, the celebrations were definitely going to start early had Mr Bennett succumbed. It must have been too windy in the Cape on Sunday because the visitors struggled to make their presence felt, Paul also mauled Nsovo 4-2 and 4-0 to come 9 points shy of the number one spot with one match to go for him in the first round much to Charl’s discomfort as he would have preferred to stay way clear of Mr Bennett. Charl should know by now that the Gentleman prefers to be just a whisker away from the pacesetter. Paul still has to play one more match against Aden Joseph to wrap up the first round and this will be the match that Paul will so badly want to win, who would forget GrandWest 2015, Aden is the reason why Paul was not crowned the Mens Singles Champion and I have a feeling someone is going to pay dearly. The excellent display over the weekend by the Gentleman caught the Sheriff’s eye and earns last season’s runner-up The Toast of The Week.
Keegan Pillay and Azim Hoosen also made their way to the mother city to battle it out with the Hammer and Yummy. Talk about a fair result, talk about even distribution of the spoils and I will tell you about Keeyam Schoeman and Rushin Bowers standing their ground against the Gauteng invasion and securing a top 5 finish at the end of the first round bar the one outstanding match between Sylvester Henry and Lenny which will definitely shake the log standings a bit. It was a game of two halves basically with the hosts securing their wins on Saturday and the visitors scrapping through on Sunday. Yummy solidly won 4-2, 4-3 against Keegan and Bowers had to fight tooth and nail to thwart uber-resistant Azim. The Magician took the first set 4-3 only for the Hammer to hit back and take the next two with the same score line. Rushin must have had a difficult weekend and he wasn’t going to beat Keegan if he wasn’t at his best and so it wasn’t a surprise that Pillay made easy peas of their match on Sunday and a 4-2, 4-0 result was justified. Azim won his Sunday match against Keeyam 2-1 and I have to commend Yummy for making sure that he bags 9 points over the weekend.
Supporters and lovers of the game were torn into three segments in the Free State as relegation threatened Kevin Seseane paid Nelson and Zander a little visit. Derbies are almost always closely contested bouts and these ones were no exception. Both matches ended in a 2-1 result with Kevin emerging victorious in the water-tight encounters. With 2 matches to go before the halfway mark, Kevin may not be out of the woods yet but for the fight that he put up and bagging 13 valuable points in the process, he deserves to be Joint-Toast of the Week with Paul Bennett, well done Shushu.
THE BPL NEVER DISAPPOINTS!!!
Don’t forget to enter your favorite players SSC Comp for your chance to join him at the Arnold Classic, spots are limited!!