Five days of hockey. Two championship matches. Two shootouts.
The 2026 South African Hockey U21 IPT came to a spectacular conclusion in Gqeberha on Friday as North West were crowned women’s champions and Western Province retained the men’s title, with both trophies ultimately decided from the shootout line.
Photo: Nathier Sulaiman / NS Pics 7
The women’s final delivered tension and nerve. The men’s final delivered absolute chaos.
And when the dust finally settled on a memorable week, two champions had been crowned, both SA U18 teams had finished inside the top four, and another U21 IPT had provided an exciting glimpse into the future of South African hockey.
Women: North West Hold Their Nerve to Take the Title
After five days of competition, there was still almost nothing to separate North West and Western Province.
The two sides had met in the pool phase, where Western Province edged a tight encounter 1-0. When they met again with the national title at stake, the margins were just as small.
This time the sides finished 1-1 after regulation time, sending the women’s championship to a shootout.
And there, North West held their nerve.
A remarkably tense shootout produced just one successful conversion as North West prevailed 1-0, turning around their earlier defeat to Province and claiming the 2026 U21 IPT women’s crown. Official competition results confirm North West first, Western Province second, with the SA U18 Girls completing the podium.
For Western Province, it was an agonising end to an outstanding week. They had navigated the pool stage unbeaten before surviving another shootout against Northerns Blues in the semi-final, but this time the decisive moment belonged to North West.
For North West, it was the perfect response. Their only defeat of the tournament had come against the very same opponent three days earlier.
North West are the 2026 SA Hockey U21 IPT Women’s Champions.
Men: Western Province Survive an Extraordinary Final
If the women’s final was about tension, the men’s final was about trying to make sense of the extraordinary.
Western Province and Northerns Blues produced a 12-goal thriller, followed by a shootout, in a championship match that swung from apparent procession to astonishing comeback.
WP struck first through Litha Kraai in the 14th minute before Reuben Sendzul began what would become a remarkable individual contribution, scoring in the 19th minute.
Luken Brunette immediately pulled one back for Northerns, but Province simply accelerated. Sendzul struck again in the 22nd and 32nd minutes before Kraai added his second two minutes later.
After 34 minutes, Western Province led 5-1. Brunette offered Northerns hope with his second in the 37th minute, only for Sendzul to complete an extraordinary four-goal haul in the 43rd.6-2 Western Province. Surely, that was it.
Northerns Blues had other ideas. Waddell struck almost immediately to make it 6-3 before Brunette completed his hat-trick in the 47th minute. And then came the 57th minute.
Brunette scored his fourth goal of the final to bring Northerns within one. Moments later, Davids struck again. From 6-2 down, Northerns Blues had somehow made it 6-6. A championship match that had looked finished was suddenly heading to a shootout. Even there, neither side wanted to blink.
Eventually Western Province prevailed 6-5 in the shootout, surviving one of the most extraordinary comebacks of the tournament to retain their U21 IPT crown.
For Sendzul, four goals in a national final capped a superb tournament. For Brunette, four at the other end drove a comeback that came within a single shootout moment of producing an astonishing turnaround.
Northerns Blues leave Gqeberha without the trophy, but their contribution to a remarkable final will live long in the memory.
Western Province, meanwhile, completed an unbeaten tournament and once again leave as champions. They had been the benchmark from the opening day, entered the knockout phase after four pool victories and arrived in the final having dispatched KZN Raiders 6-0 in the semi-final.
Western Province are the 2026 SA Hockey U21 IPT Men’s Champions.
Bronze for an Outstanding SA U18 Girls Campaign
The SA U18 Girls ensured one of the tournament’s great stories ended with a medal, defeating Northerns Blues 2-1 in the women’s bronze-medal match.
Their campaign had already been hugely impressive.
Three victories from three saw them top Pool A, including wins over Southern Gauteng, Northerns Blues and WP Peninsula. Their unbeaten run was eventually ended in Thursday’s semi-final when Germarie Spershott struck in the final minute to give North West a 1-0 victory.
Less than 24 hours later, the U18 Girls responded. Rather than allowing the disappointment of missing out on the final to define their week, they defeated Northerns Blues for the second time in the tournament and secured third place at an U21 national championship.
For a group competing above their age level, bronze represented a fitting reward for an outstanding five days.
KZN Raiders Claim Men’s Bronze
KZN Raiders responded strongly to their semi-final disappointment with a commanding 4-0 victory over the SA U18 Boys to secure the men’s bronze medal.
KZN made a flying start, with Tristan Boyall opening the scoring in the sixth minute before Lumi Matwele doubled the advantage just a minute later. Lethabo Bogwaci added the third before Boyall struck again to complete his brace and the scoring.
It was a clinical performance from the Raiders and ensured they finished their week on the podium.
For the SA U18 Boys, fourth place still represents a significant achievement.
Three victories in the pool phase earned them a semi-final place on merit before they pushed Northerns Blues all the way in a 4-3 defeat on Thursday. Like the U18 Girls, they demonstrated throughout the week that the opportunity to compete against older opposition was not simply about participation.
Final Classification
Away from the medal matches, the remaining final positions were also settled on Friday.
Women: WP Peninsula claimed fifth after drawing 2-2 with Eastern Province and winning the shootout 3-2, while Southern Gauteng defeated Free State 8-0 to finish seventh.
Men: WP Peninsula secured fifth with a 4-1 victory over Eastern Province, while Southern Gauteng defeated North West 2-0 to take seventh. Free State finished ninth after their classification defeat to North West on Thursday.
A Week That Offered More Than Champions
Gqeberha offered far more than two champions. It offered two finals decided by shootouts. It offered the extraordinary sight of Northerns Blues recovering from 6-2 down to force a men’s final to 6-6. It offered individual performances like four-goal hauls from Reuben Sendzul and Luken Brunette on the biggest stage.
And importantly, it offered another glimpse into what comes next.
The SA U18 Girls finished third. The SA U18 Boys finished fourth. Both reached the semi-finals of an U21 national tournament while playing above their age group.
That is what tournaments such as this are also about: identifying talent, exposing players to greater challenges and creating the competitive environments that prepare the next generation for what lies ahead.
Five days in Gqeberha produced goals, upsets, shootouts, emerging stars and two worthy champions.
And after 6-6 in the final game of the week, perhaps it was fitting that the 2026 U21 IPT refused to finish quietly.
SA Hockey Under 21 IPT 2026 – Final Standings – Women
1. North West
2. Western Province
3. SA Under 18
4. Northerns Blues
5. WP Peninsula
6. Eastern Province
7. Southern Gauteng
8. Free State
SA Hockey Under 21 IPT 2026 – Final Standings – Men
1. Western Province
2. Northerns Blues
3. KZN Raiders
4. SA Under 18
5. WP Peninsula
6. Eastern Province
7. Southern Gauteng
8. North West
9. Free State
Individual Awards
Mens Top Goal Scorer – Reuben Sendzul (Western Province)
Womens Top Goal Scorer – Ruby Kraus (Western Province)
Mens Best Player – Reuben Sendzul (Western Province)
Womens Best Player – Leah Du Plessis (Western Province)
Mens Best Goalkeeper – Keelan Henry (North West)
Womens Best Goalkeeper – Rebecca Haswell (North West)
