Taiwan trip offer still stands - TZD
SITEKI – TZD Sports Director Zakhele Dlamini has assured the nation that they will continue sending one liSwati runner to Taiwan.
There were fears that there might be no representative from Eswatini, as the runners did not meet the qualifying times. During the launch of the race, the Minister of Sports Culture and Youth Affairs, Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga announced that the Republic of China (Taiwan) had availed an opportunity to take one liSwati to the Palau International Marathon scheduled for June 4, 2023.
The qualifying times were 2:20:00 for males and 2:55:00 for females in the 42km. In the 21km, it was 1:05:00 and 1:25:00 hours for males and females, respectively.
The winner, Sandile Khumalo, a liSwati runner won the race in 2:49:44 hours, while Royal Eswatini Police Service’s (REPS) Samkelisiwe Tfwala also failed to beat the set time after finishing first in 3:29:18 hours.
The winner in the 21km Mancoba Nhlabatsi clocked 1:13:34 hours, while female winner Thobile Ngwenyama clocked 1:43:28 hours.
Qualifying
“We want to assure emaSwati that despite not meeting the qualifying times, we will send one liSwati to Palau International Marathon scheduled for June 4, 2023.We will discuss this with relevant stakeholders and surely we will send one athlete to Taiwan,” said Dlamini.
Dlamini went on to thank the minister for supporting them throughout the race.
“We want to thank the minister of Sports for the massive support he showed during the race. He was there from the start until prize presentation,” he added.
He went on to thank all sponsors whom he said did not only support but attended and some participated in the race. He also thanked the National Commissioner of Police William Dlamini for assuring that police were present at the event to ensure safety.