TAY LETHULOE
UP flexed its sporting muscles at the University Sports South Africa (USSA) championships recently.
UP came first in the men’s football category and placed second in the women’s football category tournaments. The tournament took place from 21-25 March after it was postponed in December 2015 following the student protests across most university campuses in the country. The finals match saw the men’s side defending their title as USSA champions.
The men’s team faced the Cape University of Technology in the final, which saw Claudio de Almeida and Frank Mpedi find the back of the net to lead UP team to a 2-1 victory. Player of the Tournament was awarded to UP student Khumbulani Siluma, and fellow UP student Dylan Paterson walked away with Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
The team was pleased with their performance that led up to the semi-final stage in Bloemfontein, where they faced the University of Fort Hare in a game that ended in a score of 2-0 for UP. The women’s side showed a promising chance of victory entering the final, having overcome the Tshwane University of Technology by penalties after a 1-1 scoreline. They went home with a respectable second place this year, following defeat after a series of penalties against the University of the Western Cape.
The 2016 tournament will be revising its format and will branch into two divisions. Division A will consist of the top twenty university teams in the country, and division B will compete for a promotion to the premier division in 2017. The UP-Tuks teams will be competing in division A for the 2016 tournament, which will take place from 5-9 December at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
The USSA rowing tournament took place from 1-2 April at Misverstand Dam. The TuksRowing men were victorious in their section, while the TuksRowing women won second place. Their respective performances placed TuksRowing second overall in the tournament. The University of Johannesburg came away with the overall victory. The athletics edition of USSA competition will take place from 28-30 April.
Image provided.