Cosafa Cup kicks off with a bang, KTA crowned NBL champions

The COSAFA Castle Cup kicked off with a bang

The 2016 COSAFA Castle Cup kicked off with a bang on Saturday with a total of five goals in the tournament’s opening two games.

In the first match, Group A favourites Zimbabwe were held to a 2-2 draws by Swaziland. Zimbabwe, who secured qualification for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations last weekend, fell behind in the 16th minute after Felix Badenhorst’s goal.

The second half was a ping-pong affair. Obadiah Tarumbwa made it 1-1 ten minutes into the second half then Swaziland retook the lead again in the 65th minute through a Badenhorst penalty before Elisha Muroiwa made it 2-2 with a superb bicycle kick 11 minutes from time.

In the day’s second game, Claudel Fanomenza’s winner gave Madagascar a 1-0 win over Seychelles. So, after day one, Madagascar is the leader of Group A. Only one team will advance to face Zambia in the quarterfinals.

Group B, which features Lesotho, kicks off today. Malawi faces Angola while Likuena start their campaign against Mauritius.

In the A-Division Top 8, Galaxy were crowned 2016 champions after a 3-1 win over Van Rooyen United in Saturday’s final at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena. Sky Battalion, who will be in the Vodacom Premier League next season, claimed third place with a 5-0 win over Manonyane in the third and fourth playoff.

To basketball and KTA All Stars are Lesotho’s champions for the second time in three years after beating Bokamoso South in Game 3 of the National Basketball League at Lehakoe Centre. KTA’s win gave them a convincing 3-0 series win in the best-of-five finals.

KTA made up for the heartbreak of last year when they lost the finals in five games to rivals Bashana Ba Heso. Bokamoso, on the other hand, exceeded expectations by just reaching the NBL finals. Bokamoso caused an upset by beating Lichocha Shooting Rifles in the semi-finals but ultimately they were overmatched by a bigger and more experienced KTA side.

In the end, all the NBL finals ended in three games with Bokamoso South claiming the development league and Lichocha Shooting Rifles winning the ladies league 3-0.

2015/16 NBL Playoffs

Champions:

A-League: KTA All Stars

B-League: Bokamoso South

Ladies: Lichocha Shooting Rifles

Runners up:

A-League: Bokamoso South

B-League: Buffalos

Ladies: Bashana Ba Heso