Tanzania in world league
By Miguel Suleyman
Tanzania eventually recorded its first mark in the seeding point chase of
African Rally Championship after the successful end of the General Tyre Rally
over the weekend.
It was Omar Bakhressa and Georgie Ferreira, who earned Tanzania its first 10
points when they cruised their Group 4 Subaru Imprezza in 3 hours 2 minutes and
59 seconds, seven minutes ahead of their challengers, Navraj Hans and Karamjit
Singh of Arusha, who ended runner-up in FIA Class in 3 hours, 09 minutes and 19
seconds.
“It was a tough and tricky rally, Ahmed Huwel and Davinder Sahota were too
slippery to catch upfront. However, though I finished overall runner-up, I am
the rightful winner of the event in the African Rally Championship category,”
said Omar Bakhressa at New Africa Hotel, the finishing point of the rally.
Also qualified to win points in FIA were Twalib Mohamed and Jamil Khan of Dar es
Salaam, who took the third position after clocking 3 hours, 40 minutes and 07
seconds in Nissan Pulsar.
“People did not believe when they saw my car doing well without retirement. The
Nissan Pulsar had never managed to finish any event staged in the past three
years. But I finished for the first time,” remarked Twalib Mohamed, the young
driver who made his debut in the event.
However, Deven Lohani, Chief Executive Officer of the event’s main sponsor,
General Tyre (EA) Limited, had more than the desired success.
Davinder Sahota ‘Pagal’ added another dimension to the success of the event,
proving himself worthy of the General Tyre sponsorship as he emerged the overall
winner of the two-day 697-kilometre event.
Pagal and his navigator Munna Khan were sponsored by General Tyre EA Limited.
The duo clocked 3 hours, 01 minute and 26 seconds.
Too close to alter the results were unfortunate Ahmed Huwel and Fahim Taher of
Iringa. Registered under STADO Rally team, Huwel led through out the six-leg
rally before losing his lead six minutes to the end, when his ultra fast Toyota
Land cruiser overturned. However, he managed to reach the last point with four
cars already passing him.
“Bad luck! But I thank God to finish despite the accident. I will try to
recapture this title in Arusha next month where the Region stages its first
international Nane Nane Rally. Let it come and see what happens,” said Huwel.
Huwel ended fifth overall at 3:25:56, behind Bakhressa, Navraj, and Abdulrahaman
Simba, who took the second, third and fourth positions, respectively.
With Shahdad Mulla beside him, Simba’s sudden comeback proved he is still
aggressive behind the wheel, after his spectacular performance in his last rally
which took place last year in Tanga, where he ended runner-up, behind the winner
Saleh Balhabou.
Others who made it in style were Kinje Ngombale Mwiru and Faiz Said in Land
Rover Defender, who came sixth clocking 3:39:19, followed by Twalib/Jamil Khan
and another NBC team of Salim Haji/Isaac Taylor, who clocked 3:52:11 to finish
eighth in Mitsubishi Gallant.
The ninth overall position went to Mehboob Sadik and Nasir Khan, also of Dar es
Salaam, who drove Datsun 1200.
The event’s chief organiser, Arif Ahmed, told The Express that ten homologated
cars of Group N Class were registered for the event, six cars took part in the
event in which three of them managed to finish and make it to the Africa Rally
Championship seeding list.
Sameer Nahdi Shanto, who drove Subaru Impreza, Davis Mosha with Nissan Pulsar
and Murtaza Kara with Toyota Celica, failed to finish the rally.
New boxers shine in Dar boxing
league
By Burton Brown
Boxers from teams continued to win accolades in the fourth week of the on-going
DABA Regional Boxing League as depicted in last weekend’s bouts held at DDC Keko
Hall, Dar es Salaam.
For the first time since it was inaugurated last month, the League managed to
record bumper attendance that has never occurred in the past bouts.
Hassan Kiyoya of Mavitus Club had a fantastic evening with deadly punches as he
beat Fred Ephraim of Temeke 14 Ward in an action-packed bout.
Another Mavitus pugilist, Jumanne Mabodi, outplayed Gerald Mwabulambo of Ruaha
in a thrilling bout.
Other exciting bouts were those of Mohamed Bakari of Ruaha, who beat Andrew
Teofan of Mavitus, and Iddi Mgodomi of Amana, who punished Wilfred Johnson of 14
Ward by points.
Ramadhan Mrutu also had a victorious evening last Saturday when his heavy
punches earned him a win over Jumanne Ndekanya of 14 Ward.
In other bouts, Abdul Rafii of Mavitus beat Issa Jumanne of Ruaha, while Masudi
Bilali of Ruaha had an easy win over Sacko Mwaisege of Amana.
The winners include Reva Madala of Amana, who beat Mpangwa Komba of Mavitus. The
referee had to intervene to help Komba from further punishment.
Ex-Ugandan stars entertain Dar
fans
By Express Reporter
The eighties’ Ugandan international soccer stars, Majidu Musisi and George
Ssemogerere, peaked their marvels as the Young Africans beat arch rivals Simba
SC in the two clubs’ veteran charity match held over the weekend at the National
Stadium.
The most dangerous players in their heyday, the presence of the two players drew
a large number of spectators, who filled every inch of the stadium.
However, it was Ssemogerere who stunned the crowd with his in-form soccer skills
as he scored one of the two goals that earned Young Africans a 2-1 win over
Simba.
Ssemogerere was Express and Uganda national team player, while Musisi, the most
dangerous striker ever in Uganda, played for Simba, a friend club of his team AS
Villa.
Observers of the match said Ssemogere managed to play and seemed fit to tackle
the speed of the younger players, while Musisi failed to play to the end as he
said he could not cope with the speed of the younger players.
Other players who played for the winners include Mfaume Athumani, Willy
Mtendamema, Sanifu Lazaro, Mohamed Hussein Iddi and Edibily Lunyamila while
Simba had Victor Costa, Madaraka Suleiman, Iddi Kibode, Nteze John and goalie
Muharami Mohamed.
The charity match was organised by Tanzania Sports Catalyst (TASCA) to raise
funds for the families of the soccer players, who died of AIDS.
Arusha stages U17 tourney
By Burton Brown
The Under 17 youth soccer tournament is scheduled for a kick off at the Sheikh
Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in Arusha this weekend.
The director of the Rollingston Foundation Football Academy that is organising
the event, Wilbroad Alphonce, told The Express the international events are
expected to feature teams from five nations.
The teams, according Alphonce, are from Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya,Uganda and
Burundi.
According to the source, the aim of the tournament is to promote goodwill among
the young players and to improve the standard of soccer in the East and Central
African countries.
“Our zone is the least developed in Africa. I think staging more youth
tournaments will help improve as they offer exposure to the youth,”he explained.
ATCL will back ARC next year
By Express Reporter
Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) has confirmed it will back the 2005 edition
of Africa Rally Championship, scheduled to take place in July.
ATCL Commercial Manager Alice Katiti confirmed this at the prize giving ceremony
of the General Tyre Rally at Diamond Jubilee Hall last Sunday.
“I now declare that ATCL will sponsor next year’s international rally, which we
are sure will be even more successful,” Ms Katiti said in the presence of the
chief guest, Deputy Minister for Labour, Youth Development and Sports Mudhihir M
Mudhihir and other sponsors of the event.
According to Katiti, ATCL, the associate sponsor of General Tyre Rally, also
sponsored the inaugural rally, Mobitel Rally of Tanzania that took place in Dar
es Salaam November, 2001.
Likewise, ATCL also sponsored the mother-son team of Prisca and Kelvin Taylor,
and the father-son team of Frank and Isaac Taylor who managed to finish 11th in
the rally.
Meanwhile, the National Bank of Commerce had a good time at the just-ended
rally, where their teams performed well in the event.
Omar Bakhressa in the ARC Category and Salim Haji, who ended eighth overall
belonged to the NBC team.
TIOT backs Twiga Stars trip
By Express Reporter
Tanzania’s OIL Transport Company, TIOT, has volunteered to back Tanzania’s
national women soccer team for their trip to Zimbabwe, where they will meet
their hosts in the aggregate match of the African Championship this weekend.
TIOT donated US$ 2,150(Tsh. 2.3 million ) to the team as allowance for 20
players and five officials.
The Public Affairs Manager of the company, Ipyana Mwandembwa, said TIOT would
also offer US$ 70(Tsh.72,000) to each player while officials would receive US$
150 each.
The Secretary General of the Football Association of Tanzanian(FAT) Michael
Wambura received the money on behalf of the team.
“Without this help, Twiga Stars would not have managed to travel to Zimbabwe
since we don’t have the funds to enable them travel to Zimbabwe,” admitted FAT
secretary.
Twiga Stars lost 0-3 to Zimbabwe in their first encounter at the National
Stadium and must beat Zimbabwe 4-0 to qualify for the group stage of African
Women’s Soccer Championship.
Tukuyu Stars’ lead in bad
soccer
By Burton Brown
Tukuyu Stars of Mbeya lead in the number of goals conceded in the finishing
stages of the Vodacom Premier League, ahead of the Super Eight to be staged
later this month.
Tukuyu Stars have conceded 19 goals in 13 matches played in the Group B. The
team also leads in having the poorest attacking system, having scored only six
goals, that is one goal in every two matches.
Mji Mpwapwa and Bandari Mtwara have scored four goals each after playing 13
matches and both teams have been relegated to the first division alongside
Tukuyu Stars.
AFC of Arusha are next to Tukuyu after conceding 17 goals, followed by Karume
Rangers of Mbozi with 15 goals behind the net while fifth-placed Police Dodoma
have allowed 14 goals, Mji Mpwapwa 11 goals and Young Africans 10 goals in their
net.
Police Mbeya lead with the strongest wall allowing only six goals in their net.
Nyerere Cup put off
By Express Reporter
The Nyerere Cup Netball Tournament will now take place in Dodoma in August 2004
after it failed to kick off as planned Tuesday this week.
The Secretary General of the Tanzania Netball Association (CHANETA), Damian
Chacha, told The Express that the organisers had to postpone the tournament due
to unpreparedness.
He said he had obtained the information from the organisers, Mapinduzi of
Dodoma, requesting for postponement so as to allow better preparation of the
event.
He said, according to the calendar, the tournament must be held after the third
week of August to allow the completion of the First Division league, which ends
August 21.
16 teams expect to lock horns in the tournament. The teams include title-holders
Jeshi Stars, JKT Mbweni, JKT Mgulani, JKT Makutupora, Police Kilimanjaro and
Police Tanga.
Tanzanian wins Nairobi contest
By Burton Brown
Tanzania’s Happiness Chilima emerged winner of the East African Young Designers
contest that took place in Nairobi, Kenya, last week.
Chilima beat her compatriots, Bhoke Chacha, Fatma Amour and Rose Makoyola and
other participants from various East African countries.
Mustafa Hassanali, one of the coordinators of the event, said Happiness, is a
student of Mzizima Secondary School, in Dar es Salaam, whose win in Nairobi
fashion contest gave her a ticket to participate in South African Grand Fashion
Show, to be held at the end of this month.