I HAVE DONE MY PART, OVER TO YOU KYLE… CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Saturday 6pm
CHARL IS IN BUT BACK DOOR NOT CLOSED YET
It may have been a very tight call but Charl Jonck did exactly what he had to do to get one foot inside the winners circle and have at least one hand on the trophy. The Assassin had to beat Kyle with a 2-0 score and he did just that. Both sets went to the decider, at some stage in the second set Charl was leading 3-1 in a race to 4 but Kyle was not just going to let him walk all over him just like that, the challenger scaled back after Charl broke dry to make it 3-2 and the next frame was an apple to make it 3-3 but Charl got a rare chance and capitalized.
Charl did what he had to do but in the process allowed Hawkeye a chance to creep in. Yulan can only get to about 87 if he wins both his remaining games and Charl made sure that the title is within the defending Champion’s reach by stopping Kyle accumulating any points whatsoever. It is still very widely open for all three but most importantly it is up to Charl to win or lose. If Charl wins again against Yulan, then Yulan falls off the race, but if Govender beats Charl then Kyle once again becomes hot favourite to win it because if both Yulan and Kyle beat Aden then Akaloo still wins because he will then have 90 points but Yulan will then only have 87. But wait… If Charl loses to Yulan and still gets a set, and Kyle loses to Aden but still gets a set as well then (Scratching my head), then everyone ends up with 87 points unless someone gets a bonus point and that will tip the scale somewhat. Will Charl beat Yulan to remain favourite pending next Sunday’s match between Aden and Kyle? Is the title staying in KZN? Part of your answer will be brewed in PE tomorrow from 3pm.
Aden is however in danger of getting relegated without the option to playoff simply because Nsovo Mathonsi won against Sbu Gumede and he managed to get a bonus point. Now if Nsovo goes ahead and beats Vishen tomorrow at Timeout then it becomes a very big problem for team Addie and that would mean the Wonderkid will also have to win both his matches next week and in the process get bonus points too.
Keegan Pillay is your new BPL First Division Champion ladies and gentleman and he did that spectacularly against the magician Azim Hoosen at DVM. A bit edgy in the beginning, Keegza managed to compose himself and get the business done. He knew going into the match that Azim was a very difficult opponent but he was confident of a win. He wasn’t going to come this far just to lose in the last hurdle and at the end a win was enough to hand him the trophy. Congratulations are in order as well for Azim as he qualifies into the Premier Division as well after ending up at number two. Perhaps these two are the only success stories to ever come from Gauteng in the history of the league. The golden province almost always features heavily in relegation related matters.
Very well one to Lenny Ramghulam for winning his match against Deon in Cape Town. Gums is by far one of the toughest nuts to crack in the First Division and Lenny did awesomely well to get bonus points against the dangerous Daniels. 4-0 and 4-2 was a good result but was it enough to see him through relegation with Thami Jabavu lurking in the shadows and hoping for a last minute reprieve. Gums is still in the running for third place only if he wins against Sly tomorrow, any other result may just see him stay put in the First Division for another season and if that happens, he will have nobody but himself to blame for leaving things until the last minute once again. Sly also fought very hard to secure a win against Leenash he needed at least one win this weekend in order to keep relegation at arm’s length and make sure that the visitors make their presence felt.
Keenan Adams also did well to beat Mabuti 2-1 but he unfortunately also left things too late, the win was a good one but it did nothing to help him to third place… that belongs to Juandre. Mabuti now needs only two points from his remaining two matches to win the league which is basically now only a formality for him. ‘Die Hard’ Pieter Rademeyer also had a productive day at the expense of Zaid Kara who seems to have lost interest in the game.
Sunday 6pm.
Do or die, now or never Charl had to seize the moment and dig deep to thwart his most fierce rival to date. Yulan Hawkeye Govender was on a mission to search and destroy, he had an outside chance of winning the title, only and only if he won against Charl. Maybe that was a very tall order for the 40 year old Champion, he was pitted against a very determined and motivated Charl. The atmosphere was tense and war was on. I can only imagine how the fans must have felt, more so Teniele Jonck must, Charl had another challenge to make sure that his wife doesn’t shed any tears. Her nails surely need a manicure session and her voice warm Ceylon Tea and some TLC as a token of appreciation for the undying support that she always gives her husband and one has to actually see what a nervous wreck she becomes when ‘The Assassin’ takes on Yulan.
Believe it or not, Charl won the first set 4-0, he made two break and clearances and kept Yulan in his seat. Hawkeye only had two visits in that first set but he came back firing in the second which he won 4-2. The last set was almost a repeat of the first one except Charl made one fatal mistake and Hawk made no mistake but that was about it… Jonck went on to win it 4-1. The two wins earned Charl the Sheriff’s Toast of the week and took him back to the number one spot. He has basically done his part and it is now over to you Kyle. Kyle can still win the league, well that’s if he gets bonus points against Aden Joseph. If that happens then we will have to acknowledge that Kyle is more than just a Viper, he is a monster.
Deon redeemed himself against Sylvester and Leenash also made amends by winning his final match against Lenny. It will be very interesting to see if Thami will get the better of the KZN duo and escape automatic relegation.
Congratulations to Mabuti on winning the Second Division league with a game to spare, he needed two points to win but he got six against a hard-hitting Zander Kriel. The Sniper went on to win against Zaid who had already lost to Keenan earlier. Zaid’s form took a serious dip mid-season after a promising start that he displayed at the beginning.
THE BPL NEVER DISAPPOINTS!!!
