Nail-biting finish to South African beach volleyball tournament A suspense-filled men’s final of the third leg of the National Beach Volleyball circuit had throngs of supporters captivated until the very end when London Olympic heroes Grant Goldschmidt and Freedom Chiya eventually clinched the title. They had a tough battle against fellow Capetonians Leo Williams and Jerome Fredericks which saw each team winning a set before moving on to the third and final set where Goldschmidt and Chiya had to make the break by two clear points. Williams and Fredericks represented South Africa in the FIVB (Fédération International de Volleyball) World Series held in Brazil earlier this year. Enjoying a balmy, Winter’s day on Durban’s New Beach, supporters were earlier treated to the Women’s Finals that saw Kirsten Pocock (Johannesburg) and Judith Augoustides (Cape Town) beat Palesa Sekhonyana (Johannesburg) and Randy Williams (Cape Town), two sets to one in a tight match. The finals were a culmination of three days play which started with round robin matches on Friday and into Saturday with 14 Women’s and 21 Men’s teams taking part. Quarter finals were played on Saturday afternoon and Sunday was focused on the semi-finals and finals. The semi-finals saw Sekhonyana and William beat Dieke Hessels and Sheena Abrahams 2-0; and Pocock and Augoustides take Manakedi Mokome and Stembile Cele 2-0. The men’s semi-finals also presented much crowd appeal with Williams and Fredericks beating Clinton Stemmet and Lesley Naidoo; and another 2-0 win to Goldschmidt and Chiya taking on Jacques Oberholzer and Chris Fairfield. The prize money of R60 000 was split equally among the men and women’s competitions. The winning teams of each competition received R8 000; the second R5 600; third R4 000; 4th R2 600; 5-8th R1 500; and 9-12th R950 each. Other prizes for players included training vouchers, netbooks and tablets from PC Training and Business College. The Men’s Most Valuable Player for the tournament Freedom Chiya, received R2 500; as did the Women’s Most Valuable Player Judith Augoustides. At the event, Geness Consulting who has partnered with the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) for the national and international tournaments, made a R10 000 donation to one of CANSA’s interim homes in KwaZulu-Natal, Mhakhla House. The home caters for patients and their families who require accommodation, transport and meals in Durban during the patient’s treatment. Hosted by the City of Durban, the event was a collaboration involving the City of Durban, VSA, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Volleyball with Sizawena Branding & Marketing in partnership with South African beach volleyball promoter Geness Consulting together with sponsors Gateway Theatre of Shopping and PC Training. It will be followed by two more legs of the South African national circuit to be held on 27 to 29 September 2013 and 6 to 8 December 2013, both to take place in Durban. The teams who finish at the top of the five-leg circuit in both genders will automatically qualify for the FIVB City of Durban Beach Volleyball Open scheduled for 11-15 December 2013. ENDS ABOUT VSA Established in 1992, Volleyball South Africa is the country’s first fully representative national volleyball federation, including both indoor and beach volleyball codes. SASCOC CEO Tubby Reddy is President of VSA. ABOUT FIVB The Fédération International de Volleyball (FIVB) is the Switzerland-based governing body responsible for all forms of volleyball on a global level. Working closely with national federations and private enterprises, the FIVB aims to develop volleyball as a major world media and entertainment sport through world-class planning and organisation of competitions, marketing and development activities. The FIVB is part of the Olympic Movement, contributing to the success of the Olympic Games. ABOUT GENESS CONSULTING Geness Consulting is a progressive black empowered company that has been granted the exclusive rights to organise, stage, publicise and promote national and international beach volleyball events in South Africa by Volleyball South Africa (VSA) and the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) respectively. ABOUT CANSA ACTIVE CANSA offers a unique integrated service to the public and all people affected by cancer. As a leading role-player in cancer research, the scientific findings and knowledge gained from research is used to realign health programmes as well as strengthen CANSA’s role to the greater benefit of the public.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 15:47:15 +0000