 |
| Kaira Gabrielle Pinard (Valhalla) |
MSSA's
31st South African National Championships (SAN) was more than efficiently hosted by
Fakkel School in Sasolburg. Even though this was the first time that
such event was ever hosted by the school, and only the third time
that the SA Nationals were hosted in the Free State, the event went
off without a hitch and was an unprecedented success.
Thanks
must be extended to Fakkel School, Henry Colin and the Free State
Provincial Director, Mr. Leonard Loftus.
The championship
attracted entries from the majority of provinces. Entries were
received from 6 provinces.
Female participation continued
to grow with female participation growing in a number of titles. The
SA Nationals is thus now the championship that has more female
participation than any other championship held in South Africa, and
ranks among the top championships in the world for such.
Players
thus battled it out to not only to earn the titles of South African
Champion and SA Ladder Champions, but also to earn National
Federation Colours and the right to fight for a place in the 2018
National Team Trials that will ultimately deliver a team to IeSF's
2017 10th World Championships - Kaohsiung City.
While
a number of the titles were taken by the 'old guard', there were a
few upsets.
The
most notable upset was by Charlize Seremak (HTS Sasolburg) who won
the female division of Tekken 7, and in the process of doing so,
established herself as being a keen competitor.
Another notable performance was by Kaira Gabriella Pinard who won bothe the HearthStone and StarCraft II titles, and in the process earned herself National Federation Colours.
All
the medalists in the Premier divisions (both male and female) are
reminded that they have all earned a place in MSSA's National Team
Trials (NTT). However, all those wishing to participate in such, are
reminded that they must have a valid South African passport at the
date of such NTT, and that all those who are minors, must have a
valid unabridged birth certificate.
The
winners are:
| Title | Name of player/team | Club | Colours awarded |
| Ancients – Premier | Colin Webster | Old Edwardian Wargames Club | Provincial |
| Ancients – Handicap Championships | Terence Allwright | Old Edwardian Wargames Club | Provincial |
| Ancients – High Schools | Alexander Schoeman | Knights Mind Sports Club | |
| Checkers – Female | Chanel de Wet | JCS Academy | National & School National |
| Checkers – Premier | Pheello Maphumane | Fakkel School | |
| Checkers – High School | Jan- Hendrik van Aswegen | HGH Witbank | |
| CounterStrike: GO | VxP CSGO | VexxedPhoenix | National Federation |
| FIFA ‘17 – Female | Ru-Landie Kilian | Affies Sasolburg | National & School National |
| FIFA ‘17 – Premier | Khahliso Malape | Fakkel School | National, School National & Provincial |
| Hearthstone | Kaira Gabriella Pinard | Valhalla | National & Provincial |
| League of Legends – Premier | Genx Nightwalkers | Gen X | National Federation |
| League of Legends – High School | Parys High School | Parys High School | |
| PES 2017 - Female | Ru-Landie Kilian | Affies Sasolburg | National & School National |
| PES 2017 - Premier | Khahliso Malape | Fakkel School | National & School National |
| PES 2017 - High School | Franco Janse van Rensburg | Masters of Mind Sports | |
| Morabaraba – Female | Anne-Lee Steyn | JCS Academy | National & Provincial |
| Morabaraba – Premier | Cobus van der Wath | Fakkel School | |
| Mortal Kombat X – Female | Bronwyn Williams | JCS Academy | National & School National |
| Mortal Kombat X – Premier | Pieter Oelofse | HTS Sasolburg | National & School National |
| Mortal Kombat X – High School | Jooste Loftus | Masters of Mind Sports | School Provincial |
| StarCraft II – Female | Kaira Gabriella Pinard | Valhalla | National Federation |
| StarCraft II – Premier | Aidan Smale | Old Edwardian Wargames Club | School Provincial |
| Street Fighter V – Female | Leone Loftus | Fakkel School | National & School National |
| Street Fighter V – Premier | Mxolisi Lukhele | Amplified Rebellion | National Federation |
| Street Fighter V – High School | Wynand J v Rensburg | JCS Academy | |
| Tekken 7 – Female | Charlize Seremak | HTS Sasolburg | National & School National |
| Tekken 7 – Premier | Alasdair Donaldson | VexxedPhoenix | National Federation |
Tekken 7 – High School
| Pieter Lourens | HGH Witbank | |
| Leighton howells | HTS Sasolburg | |
| Sportsmanship award | Alasdair Donaldson | VexxedPhoenix | |
