Dombojena, Chokore defend Old Mutual titles
PORTIFA DOMBOJENA and Lizzie Chokore underlined their status as the best long distance athletes at the moment when they both retained their titles at the Old Mutual Relay Challenge yesterday.
Dombojena and Chokore won the Open Men and Open Women 42.2km marathons.
The race started and ended at Old Georgians Sports Club.
Dombojena beat Two Oceans reigning champions Mike Fokorani to cross the finish line in 2hours 20minutes 30seconds.
For Dombojena it was his second consecutive victory in the same race.
The long distance runner could not hide his joy after emerging the winner.
“This race was fantastic today, it was well organised. It was good training since we are training for Two Oceans also.
“It was a good one because everyone was here . . . the winner of Two Oceans, reigning champion Mike HARARE Basketball Men’s A League log leaders Harare City Hornets have cemented their growing reputation in the domestic game by providing 12 players to the Zimbabwe senior team’s provisional squad for the Afro basketball championships qualifiers scheduled for early next month.
City Hornets have been on a roll since powering their way back into the A League with a dominant unbeaten campaign in the B League last year, during which they also won the Bob 92 championship.
They are also unbeaten in the A League and on Saturday they registered a comprehensive 87-45 win over giants Cameo at Richwood court.
Crucially for the “Sting of Excellence’’ as Hornets are affectionately known have provided the biggest chunk of players in the provisional squad announced Fokorani was here, almost everyone.
“This one was very tough because everyone seemed well prepared. It’s a great achievement for me because I have never defended my championship before,” said Dombojena.
Fokorani was second in 2hours 20minutes 52seconds, followed by Lyno Muchena in 2hours 21minutes 28seconds.
In the Open Women category, Chokore was at her personal best again this year as she claimed the title in 3hours 2minutes 48seconds.
“It was very tough because what I discovered is that Tabitha Tsatsa was stronger today than last year, so the competition was there.
“We managed to break the time for last year which shows me that the competition was very high. Last year I ran 3hours 5minutes and today it was 3hours 2minutes. It means we are training very hard,” said Chokore.
For their efforts Dombojena and Chokore got $1 500.
Tsatsa emerged the winner for the Veteran Women after she ran 3hours 2minutes 48seconds as well.
She was also positioned the runner-up for Open Women.
On third place was Samukeliso Moyo with a time of 3hours 6minutes 40seconds.
Tsatsa bemoaned the decrease in numbers of female road runners in the country and said she would want to see more women competing.
Over 620 participants took part in four categories — 42.2km, 21km, 10km and 5km.
The race is organised by the Harare Athletics Club and is sponsored by Old Mutual.
HAC chairman, Martin Webster was pleased with the event as he noted they had their biggest turnout yesterday.
“It was more than we have ever had . . . we had over 620 runners on the road. We had I think about 140 marathon runners and 37 relay teams and then the rest were fun runners who came for the pure fun of running and they were doing 5km, 10km and 21km.
“I am over the moon with both the support we have had, the support from our sponsors, the publicity we have got it’s been a great day for us,” said Webster.
Results 42.2km. Open Men: 1.Portifa Dombojena, 2. Mike Fokorani, 3. Lyno Muchena.
Veteran Men: 1. Mike Fokorani, Lewis Masunda, 3. Elijah Mutandiro.
Master Men: 1. Patrick Chipoyi, 2. Ephraim Kambambaira, 3. Kingston Marange.
Grandmaster Men: 1. Jethro Thebe, 2. Martin Webster, 3. Thomas Chamarambe.
Open Women: 1. Lizzie Chokore, 2. Thabita Tsatsa, 3. Samukeliso Moyo.
Veteran Women: 1. Tabitha Tsatsa, 2. Samukeliso Moyo, 3. Miriam Choga.
Master Women: 1. Carolina Pereira, 2. Sandra Fransis.
Grandmaster Women: 1. Dorothy Graham, 2. Fran Foggin.
Relay Teams Relay Team Men: Amen Academy. Relay Team Women: Hanssen Heros. Relay Team Mixed: Lauras Knights. Schools Team Girls: Peterhouse A. Schools Team Boys: Hellenic Knights. Schools Team Mixed: Peterhouse E.