Apr 24, 2019 | Boxing
Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) is pleased with the nomination of Anisha Bashir for the Sports Personality of the Year in the 2019 Regional Annual Sport Awards (Rasa). Speaking to the acting Executive Secretary for Malawi National Council of Sports, Mr Henry Mereka said the development is a piece of good news for the nation.
“Bashir was named 2018 overall Best Sports Personality of the Year in the Malawi Sport Awards which are organized by the Malawi National Council of Sports. To us as a nation it is a plus and we should be excited because making it to the finals is not easy and we should feel proud. This also shows that the introduction of the Malawi Sport Awards is bearing fruits and meeting its objectives,” he said.
The top female boxer, Anisha Bashir will compete with celebrated South African athlete Caster Semenya and Zimbabwean Wilfred Mashaya (martial arts) for the Sports Personality of the Year in the 2019 Regional Annual Sports Awards (Rasa). She has also been nominated for the Sportswoman of the year in the Southern Africa regional sports awards alongside Semenya and another athlete Lerato Sechele from Lesotho.
Bashir, who is camping in Zimbabwe in preparation for her upcoming World Boxing Council (WBC) silver lightweight bout against Chantelle Cameron slated for June 28 in London, could not hide her excitement.
“I am really pleased with the news. Just being recognized is an honour on its own and to be pitted against a superstar athlete like Caster is amazing,” she said.
According to a statement from Rasa, the awards are slated for Windhoek, Namibia on May 25.
Apr 15, 2019 | Football
Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) has given the country’s football governing body-Football Association of Malawi (FAM) a go-ahead to host this year’s Under-17 Cosafa Youth Championship slated for September.
Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) granted Fam hosting rights for the competition during its annual general meeting which took place in South Africa in January this year.
Speaking to Executive Secretary for Malawi National Council of Sports, George Jana, said the government had assured Fam of support in hosting the regional event.
“We have given Fam the go-ahead. We also gave them the assurance that we will support them to host this big tournament in the country”, Jana said.
Fam General Secretary, Alfred Gunda, said, during its recent meeting, the association’s executive committee also approved hosting of the showpiece.
“We are making progress after our Executive Committee approved the decision to host the event. We are pleased that Sports Council has also given us the go-ahead”, Gunda said.
Government approval is crucial for associations to host any tournament in their respective countries. Zimbabwe Football Association pulled out of hosting this year’s Cosafa senior tournament after failing to get their government’s guarantee.
This threw the 2019 competition into doubt until the South African city of Durban stepped in to save the situation.
Apr 8, 2019 | Basketball, Schools
Malawi College of Accountancy of Lilongwe underlined their class to successfully defend the k 62 million National Bank of Malawi Mo626 Ice College Basketball tournament in the men’s category after thrashing hosts Chanco 64-46 at Chancellor College in Zomba.
Zomba Institute of Management and Accountancy (Zima) were crowned queens of ladies division following their 62-52 victory over Malawi Assemblies of God University (Magu).
The two-day play-offs started on Friday, with MCA Lilongwe beating Magu 65-44 whereas Chanco defeated Poly 66-60.
In a third-place match, Poly settled for bronze after narrowly defeating Magu 61-60.
During the final, Chanco were expected to utilise home ground advantage but failed after trailing the eventual champions in all quarters. MCA Lilongwe captain, Hydin Mafuta, said they deserved to win.
“We did our homework well ahead of the final. We made the final look easy after analysing our opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. It feels amazing to retain the title”, Mafuta said.
In the ladies section, Zima defeated Poly 49-25 in the semi-finals whereas Magu sweated to overcome Bunda 46-42 in a third-place match.
Zima produced a classic performance to defeat Magu, who were one of the favourites to win.
Zima Captain, Angel Malija, said she was excited with the win.
“It was tough but it feels great to win. We will continue playing so that we improve our performance and successfully defend our title in the next competition”, Malija said.
National Bank of Malawi Corporate Affairs Manager, Annie Magola, said the second edition was exciting and competitive.
“As a Bank, we are looking forward to the third edition after successfully sponsoring the tournament for two seasons”, Magola said.
Basketball Association of Malawi president, Hamlet Kamtengeni, hailed the bank for bridging the gap between developing teams and senior teams.
“We have watched some of the most thrilling games in basketball during this tournament. This competition is serving its purpose well and things can only get better”, Kamtengeni said.
Winners in both categories pocketed k 2 million each, with the runners-up getting k 1million. Third-place teams walked home with k 500,000.
