Taifa Cup Basketball enters exciting semis
DODOMA: ONE of the tournament men’s category favourites, Kigoma humiliated Shinyanga by 95-35 points to set a date with Tabora in today’s semi-final showdown in the ongoing Taifa Cup Basketball tournament staged at the Chinangali courts in the capital City Dodoma.
Kigoma team comprising star players like the current tournament leading scorer, Tyrone Edward and leading steal player, Amin Mkosa, continued with their sparkling form in the astonishing Wednesday evening quarterfinal victory.
On the other hand, their opponents Tabora were the first side to reach the semi-final stage as they played earlier in the day.
Tabora cruised into the last four after defeating Iringa with an impressive 76-48 points to sail through today’s knockout stage showdown. In the other semis today battle hosts Dodoma will face the Mtwara.
The tournament brings together regional basketball teams sponsored by the CRDB Bank and Azam TV. To sail into the semis hosts Dodoma beat Unguja by 59-48 points in close and mouthwatering game.
Also Read: Tabora steps into Taifa Cup Basketball semis
Mtwara booked their place in the quarterfinals with an 84-66 points victory against Manyara and threatened the hosts who will only need a win to escape disappointment in front of their home fans.
However, they must show high-level games to escape any disappointment at this stage.
Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF) Technical and Competition Commissioner, Daniel Patrick unveiled from Dodoma that all is set as the event enters the semi-final stage although the women’s category semifinals showdown was in action yesterday evening.
He said that 2022 finalist Unguja was looking for another final spot against Arusha whereas Mara was to battle against Mbeya. According to Patrick, the men’s leading scorer Edward Tall hit 130 points and Felix Deogratius of Tabora attained 86 points to leapfrog Alfan Mustapha of Mtwara at second hitting 72 points.
Mustapha has dropped to third. In the women’s category, Jesca Julius of Mara scored 108 points to lead the table, Namsifu Isack of Arusha had 82 points in second and Tumaini Ndossi of Unguja jumped in third with 74 as her club-mate Bhone Juma dropped at 5th from third accumulating 66 points as Dodoma player Jesca Elly had 69 at 4th.
Taifa Cup Basketball defending champions both men and women Dar es Salaam teams were removed from the draw three days before the competition throw-off on June 29th.
TBF decided to remove the Dar es Salaam team, two times winners at the Taifa Cup draw due to the misunderstanding and disagreement between the Dar es Salaam Basketball Association (BD) and the Dar es Salaam Basketball Clubs (DBC) regarding the confirmation of the participation of the defending champions.
