Koki wins Binga marathon
ZIMBABWE National Army HQ1 Brigade (Mzilikazi) runner Leonard Koki (40) won the second edition of the Binga Kasambabezi Marathon at the weekend.
Koki crossed the finishing line in two hours 50 minutes followed by Brightmore Mbombo of Binga, who clocked three hours 44 minutes and 56 seconds.
Koki walked away with a Kwese TV decoder, T-shirt, gold medal, certificate and cash prizes courtesy of Agribank and Total Service Station.
In the women’s marathon, only two contestants, Thulani Ngwenya and Mapenzi Munkwombwe took part. Ngwenya took the prize in four hours 28 minutes and six seconds, while Munkwombwe managed 4:31:05.
Hwange Athletics Club’s Phatisa Ngwabi beat 12 other contestants to win the men’s 21km race, while Immaculate Muchimba was tops in the women’s run.
Abiton Mwembe from Binga clinched the 10km race, with Costa Muleya and Agnes Mudimba winning the men’s and women’s 5km run respectively.
Donald Tshuma (65) won the special recognition award after completing the 21km run.
Albert Munsaka won the secondary schools’ boys’ 5km male race and Patience Muunga took the girls’ category.
In the 5km boys’ primary schools’ race, Brayen Mudimba took top prize, while Phiona Munkuli won the girls’ race.
Guest of honour Munyaradzi Chikwama urged the youths to take sport seriously, saying it helped them shun drug and substance abuse as well as to maintain a healthy lifestyle. — @tobymandox SOUTHERN Region Five-A-Side League chairman Philani Banda believes this year’s campaign will be one of the most competitive due to the increase in the number of participating teams.
Nine clubs registered for the league that kicked off at the Grassroots Soccer Football for Hope Centre in Gwabalanda at the weekend.
Newcomers Emakhandeni FC, Kilmanock and Street Set joined regulars Flying Stars, Bulawayo Artists, Amabhubesi, Cash Money, Fox and Nust.
Defending champions Bulawayo Artists opened their campaign with a 4-1 win over Nust, with last year’s runners-up Amabhubesi coming back from 3-1 to force a 6-6 draw against Fox.
Kilmarnorc managed a 3-3 draw against Cash Money in their debut game.
Banda said they were excited to have three new affiliates and believed it was an indication that the league was moving in the right direction.
“The season got off to a good start, with the teams exhibiting some exciting football. With such displays, we are set for a competitive and exciting season. Our aspiration remains to play host to international competitions.
“We have an exciting new crop of players that have displayed talent, but our clubs struggle to participate in major tournaments due to financial constraints,” Banda said.
Worldwide, five a-side football is played on a smaller field and mainly indoors between two teams of five players each, one of who is a goalkeeper and unlimited substitutions are permitted.
Five a-side football is played with a smaller ball that has less bounce compared to a regular football due to the surface of the field.
The surface, ball and rules create an emphasis on improvisation, creativity and technique as well as ball control and passing in small spaces. — @innocentskizoe