17 December 2013
ZAMBIA : CB Teams Out of Sprite Championships
COPPERBELT teams have been eliminated from the Zambia Basketball Association (ZBA) 2013 Sprite National Championships after losing their respective quarter-final matches at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka at the weekend.
Defending champions, UNZA Pacers lead the midlands sides into the semi-finals to be played this weekend while women defending champions Shells head the teams into clinching slots in the last four.
In the men's games, Pacers beat Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) Cavaliers 88-40 as Matero Magic cruised past Copperbelt University Comets with a 91-56 with Lusaka City Council Looters beating YMCA Stingers 68-43 while Napsa Hurricanes beat Lunga Bullets 98-83.
The women category saw Shells beat Lootresses 63-43, UNZA Honeys were 106-24 winners over Mufulira Saints as CEC Queens suffered a 94-17 defeat at the hands of Napsa Breeze, while Green Buffaloes were handed a free passage into the semi-finals after CBU Robins arrived at OYDC an hour late.
Meanwhile, ZBA vice-president north, Andrew Nyirenda attributed the poor performance of the Copperbelt teams in the championships to lack of strong and competitive league as well as trained coaches.
"The team's performance in the league was below par rendering them not strong competitors for this championship.
"And I also feel that the coaches are somewhat technically behind and lack financial support to enable them train more which greatly contributed," he said.
But Nyirenda said he was happy that the northern region was still making strides in coming up with a programme for coaches to equip them with right skills.
Defending champions, UNZA Pacers lead the midlands sides into the semi-finals to be played this weekend while women defending champions Shells head the teams into clinching slots in the last four.
In the men's games, Pacers beat Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) Cavaliers 88-40 as Matero Magic cruised past Copperbelt University Comets with a 91-56 with Lusaka City Council Looters beating YMCA Stingers 68-43 while Napsa Hurricanes beat Lunga Bullets 98-83.
The women category saw Shells beat Lootresses 63-43, UNZA Honeys were 106-24 winners over Mufulira Saints as CEC Queens suffered a 94-17 defeat at the hands of Napsa Breeze, while Green Buffaloes were handed a free passage into the semi-finals after CBU Robins arrived at OYDC an hour late.
Meanwhile, ZBA vice-president north, Andrew Nyirenda attributed the poor performance of the Copperbelt teams in the championships to lack of strong and competitive league as well as trained coaches.
"The team's performance in the league was below par rendering them not strong competitors for this championship.
"And I also feel that the coaches are somewhat technically behind and lack financial support to enable them train more which greatly contributed," he said.
But Nyirenda said he was happy that the northern region was still making strides in coming up with a programme for coaches to equip them with right skills.
# posted by afrbk : 15:30
