The Mpumalanga and Kwa Zulu Natal Provinces dominated the 2023 VSA’s Inter Provincial Tournament which was held on the 27th-30 th of June 2023 in Limpopo,Polokwane at Ngaoko Ramatlhodi Sports Complex. This year’s edition was attended by 6 teams in both boys’ and girls’ categories. The provinces that made their appearance at this year’s tourney are; Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Kwa Zulu Natal, North
West, Free State and Gauteng. It was unbelievable to witness both Mpumalanga and Kwa Zulu Natal young stars reclaiming the glory by winning the tourney twice in a row from 2022 IPT.
On the boys’ side, KZN squad approached the tournament as the top-seeded team and displayed an outstanding performance by winning all their five matches played in the round robin stage, to secure the semi-finals spot. The KZN young stars showed wonderful volleyball actions in the semi-final encounter by beating Limpopo regardless of their home ground advantage by 3-0 scores to register the final spot.
The KZN stars in the making did not disappoint the parents who travelled all the way to show their support by overcoming Mpumalanga by 3-0 in a very interesting final match. In the battle for bronze medal, Gauteng also walked away with a bronze medal after defeating Limpopo by 3-1 scores.
On the girls’ side, Mpumalanga, the reigning champions on their campaign towards defending their gold medal also demonstrated an incredible performance during the round robin matches by finishing on top of the log. The MP young rising stars proved that they were the defending champions by crushing Kwa Zulu Natal by 3-2 in a highly contested semi-final match to make their way to the gold medal game.
The unstoppable and brave MP starlets confirmed that winning is a usual practice on their side by overthrowing their counterparts from North West Province by 3-0 in the final match. KZN again on girls’ side completed the podium after punishing Gauteng in the 3 rd /4 th playoffs by 3-0 scores.
In terms of individual performance, MP and KZN still dominated the list of players who walked away with special accolades as they were honored for their brilliant and excellence performance displayed during the IPTs.
Boys’ category
Ally Tariq (KZN) – Best Setter
Yashin Naidoo (KZN) – Best Blocker
Sphesihle Mtetwa (Mpumalanga) – Best Defender
Deloshen Valaithhum (KZN) – Best Attacker and MVP
Girls’ category
Thabisile Raphanyana (Gauteng) – Best Setter
Lesego Malebo (North West) – Best Blocker
Mapaseka Mahlangu (Mpumalanga) – Best Defender
Sarah Mnguni (Mpumalanga) – Best Attacker and MVP
Article by
Jacob Thamaga
PR & Media Director
thamagajacob@gail.com
072 594 5972
