Sports

Foreign teams rule at Phoenix Trophy

FOREIGN hockey outfits capped an impressive spell in this year's Phoenix Trophy tournament after dominating individual honours in the event that ended at the Popatlal Secondary School venue in Tanga over the weekend.

Tanga Regional Hockey Association organized the four-day tournament under sponsorship from Phoenix of Tanzania Assurance Company in conjunction with Lal Insurance Agency.

Apart from the tournament's trophy, which was won by Kenya's Nairobi Police, visiting clubs also grabbed the rest of the individual honours thanks to their stellar displays, which helped them tame their domestic counterparts.

Tanga Regional Hockey Association official, Kaushik Doshi, told 'Daily News' that Victor Wekesa of the new champions, Nairobi Police, was declared the best player of the tournament to help his side cap a fantastic campaign.

Nairobi Police thrashed defending champions, Moshi Khalsa A, 3-1 in the final to grab silverware, with Wekesa banging in one of the three goals. Ronald Kawalya of Uganda's Kampala Hockey Club won the tournament's best defender award to somewhat salvage a little pride for his team, which failed to make it to the semi-finals. The Ugandan outfit was previously in pool C with Moshi Khalsa A and Zanzibar Combine.

Another Kenyan outfit, Mombasa Sports Club, took the best disciplined team's award and wrapped up the foreign teams' dominance in the tournament. Mombasa Sports Club got the opportunity to participate in the event after another Mombasa outfit, Mwita Hockey Club, which had previously confirmed to take part but then pulled out at the eleventh hour.

And Mombasa Sports Club made the most of its presence, as it cruised to the semi-finals after excelling in pool A of the tournament, which also had domestic outfits of Tanga's Annadil Burhani and Magereza of Dar es Salaam.

Mombasa Sports Club's campaign eventually ended in the last four's stage, in which the team succumbed to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Nairobi Police. Doshi said the tournament's guest of honour was Deputy Mayor of Tanga, Muzamil Shemdoe, who presided over the prize giving session.

Shemdoe stressed on the need for the Phoenix Trophy tournament to foster better relationship among members of the hockey fraternity in the East African region and their counterparts in the neighbouring countries, which ought to play each other regularly.

The Deputy Mayor further insisted that discipline is important in raising the standard of the game. He praised the tournament's sponsors, Phoenix of Tanzania Assurance Company, for continuously backing the event for 13 years.