Grouping done as Taifa Cup draws 36 teams for ten-day showdown

PPREPARATIONS for the CRDB Taifa Cup Basketball Championship are in full gear as the grouping of 36 teams to vie for the events top thrones was conducted yesterday ahead of the ten-day showpiece. The national level basketball showdown will be staged from November 12th to 22nd in the Tanzanian capital, Dodoma. The grouping exercise took place yesterday at Don Bosco Youth Center. Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF) president Phares Magesa said yesterday that 24 men teams have confirmed fielding teams while 12 others will compete in the women's discipline. He lauded CRDB bank for their timely support, saying that the bank has truly come for the development of the sport in the country. Other co-sponsors include Sanlam and Mayfair Insurance. The draw for the men's team has the following teams in the groups: Group A teams are Ilala, Kilimanjaro, Tabora, Rukwa, Shinyanga and Katavi. Group B has Mbeya, Mwanza, Manyara, Kigoma, Coast Region and Kinondoni. Group C has Songwe, Dodoma, Morogoro, CRDB Youth (special team), Tanga and Mtwara. Group D has Temeke, Arusha, Iringa, Singida, Pemba and Unguja.
The women's grouping has only three groups, as follows; Group A has drawn together Ilala, Iringa, Morogoro and Coast Region while Group B has Temeke, Dodoma, Arusha and Singida. The teams in C include Mbeya, Unguja, CRDB Youth ( special invited team) and Tanga ' We are all set for the tournament, thanks for CRDB bank for coming onboard to support us in accommodation, transport and other costs ', said Magesa. Additionally, the TBF technical commissioner, Manase Zablon, said the tournament will be used by the technical experts to select both men and women teams ahead of various international tournaments. Among others are the East and Central African Championship, which Tanzania has been participating for a number of years. 'We need to have strong teams that will pose a stiff opposition to other countries, ' he said. Magesa has urged regional teams to continue preparing predicting the tournament will be tough and exciting. 'It will be two weeks of a full packed action with players showcasing their talent in dribbling, passing and scoring' he said. Apart from selecting the national teams, he said the event will also expose new talent. 'We expect to see a big number of young talented players who will be exposed and later promoted to a level of international competitions' he said. Basketball is one of the sporting events that lacked a massive financial support in recent years. The coming of CRDB will therefore stimulate the best performance of the teams to a high excellent as they will be capable to travel and compete.
Courtesy of: africa-press.com