TZ teams kick off AFHF President’s Cup

Arusha. All roads will lead to the Twigas Club grounds today where Tanzanian hockey teams launch their campaigns for the week-long AFHF President’s Cup.

The Tanzania ladies hockey team will be the first to take to the field where they will clash with their Zambian counterparts at 2:30pm.

Coached by Italian Valentina Quaranta, the Tanzanian ladies will likely approach the match assuredly considering that they will have the crowd rallying behind them.

The 15-team side has been in Arusha acclimatising and Emelta Massawe, one of the players, voiced her optimism of making a bright start to the first edition of the President’s Cup.

After today’s match, the two sides will meet in rematch on Saturday before facing off again the next day when the winner will be declared.

Tanzania Hockey Association (THA) secretary general Kaushik Doshi said the outfits have been forced to meet thrice because they are the only sides in the tournament.

The men’s side, which comprises 17 players, will also be in action against Malawi at the same venue before taking on Zambia the next day.

The teams will have a break on Friday and on Saturday, Zambia lock horns with Malawi. The men’s final will be played on Sunday.

The newly introduced competition involves all national associations ranked below seven in Africa.

The winners of men and women’s categories will join top-seven ranked African nations for the 2017 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations to be held in South Africa from August 18 to 27. Egyptian Ahmed Yousef is the tournament’s director with Nigerian Ediga Agbo overseeing refereeing.