Northern Pride MPSH Football Club and Otjinene-based Fine Young Stars shared the title in the annual Unockie Popinaa Kasume Tournament Sunday night after a power outage led to the final’s cancellation.

The tournament began on Saturday, with 33 football and 22 netball teams playing for a prize of N.dollars 60 000 across all divisions at Windhoek’s Khomasdal Stadium and Eros Stadium.

Tournament organiser Ngatuuane Hange told Nampa on Monday the event was a success despite Sunday’s power outage, which led to the final football match being cancelled and the finalists splitting the spoils evenly.

‘It was a successful tournament which saw close to 60 teams competing. Despite all these teams, we managed to host the event with the little resources at our disposal,’ he said.

Hange highlighted that the yearly competition is organised in memory of the late netball star, who competed at the local and regional levels for almost a decade.

The football category featured some intriguing battles, with teams from all over
the country coming together for the common goal of football development.

In the semi-finals, Oshakati MPSH defeated Mariental outfit One Love by a single goal to advance to the final, whilst Fine Young Stars also overcame Mafumhe FC, 1-0.

However, due to late-night lighting challenges at the Khomasdal Stadium, the two teams split the N.dollars 30 000 prize for the finalist equally, with each receiving N.dollars 15 000.

One Love and Mafumhe each settled for N.dollars 5 000 as semi-final losers.

The tournament’s highlight was a netball duel between professional players from the top and second divisions.

On Sunday, Renamo Bucks defeated M-Desh Army by a slim margin of 29-26. The other semi-final saw Otjimanangombe exact sweet retribution on Fine Young Stars, a team that thrashed them in the semi-finals of the Omaheke Top Eight tournament two weeks ago in Gobabis, with a 31-19 scoreline.

Despite unleashing their might on Fine Young Stars, the latter failed to capitalise on their momentum, losing narrowly to
Renamo Bucks in the final in an Epukiro affair that saw Renamo Bucks take the trophy, winning N.dollars 10 000 and a trophy. Otjimanangombe received N.dollars 5 000. Fine Young Stars and M-Desh Army each received N.dollars 2 500 as semi-final losers.

Source: The Namibia News Agency