‹‹ ‘—– ‘ˆ Šƒ†„ƒŽŽ
THE inaugural MoMo Cup will reach its boiling point this coming weekend.
After the play-offs this past week, focus shifts to the main tournament to be played on Sunday at Somhlolo National Stadium. It is no use wasting ink on the rigmarole that was witnessed after the conclusion of the voting exercise. As a first edition, there were bound to be challenges and it was good for the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) to swiftly declare that the seeding in the voting exercise would be removed in the next edition.
Having said that, the fact that things did not go as planned could not be ignored. The ‘Big Three’ failed to come to the party in the voting exercise, with some claiming that the seeding was not explained clearly from the onset.
Votes
The general feeling was that hitting the 20 000 votes for the big guns would be enough to earn them an automatic spot in the semifinals, only for Mbabane Highlanders and Manzini Wanderers to be relegated to the play-offs. Mbabane Swallows completely missed out, as they could not make the top seven on the voting charts. The contentious clause was pertaining to outvoting the unseeded teams, which the big guns failed to do.
After the conclusion of the voting campaign, Moneni Pirates, Rangers and Nsingizini Hotspurs emerged as the best voting sides. Wanderers, Denver Sundowns, Manzini Sea Birds and Highlanders were the teams to fight for the remaining spot in the semifinals.
Highlanders and Wanderers were drawn against each other in the play
MBABANE – Eswatini has crashed out of the International Handball Federation (IHF) Trophy Zone VI Championships.
The ongoing championships are held in Zimbabwe and they are used as the Handball Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers to be played later this year. Eswatini was represented by the boys’Under-19s and Under-17s who have since dropped out in the early stages of the tournament. The Under-17s on Saturday recorded a win against Lesotho, which was the only victory Eswatini got out of six games. Team Eswatini had their last matches in the tournament on Saturday.
Eswatini Handball Federation Vice President Temalangeni Dlamini, however, was proud of the teams, as she said the boys gave out their best, exceeding their expectations. Dlamini said it was also a learning curve for them.
“We do also take into consideration the experience our players have in comparison to our fellow competitors. We have overall seen some massive improvements in terms performance, zeal and confidence,” Dlamini, who went with team said.
The vice-president also mentioned that the association was committed to growing handball in the country. She was also proud and grateful to the management of the association, Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council (ESRIC) and Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA) for their endless support.