ARUSHA became the first team to secure their place in the Taifa Cup Basketball final as the tournament set to wind up today in Simiyu Region.
Official from the Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF) Manase Zablon told the ‘africa-press’ from Simiyu on Monday that all is going well so far at the event, despite dismal response from regions.
Only five regions include Shinyanga, Mara, Arusha, Mwanza and hosts Simiyu turned up to battle it out for the top honours at event that started on December 27th this year.
Zablon said that Arusha leads the table with six points after winning three matches before yesterday’s evening action against hosts that complete group stage.
Simiyu, who are placed fourth in the table were set to provide tough test for Arusha, who are the favorite to win this year’s title that is vacant after defending champion Dar es Salaam failed to show up.
Second placed is Shinyanga, who have already played all four matches with two wins and two defeats to collect six points also, two of them bonus points.
In the third place is Mwanza, who have five points from three matches, with two wins and a defeat.
Mwanza are in better position to finish at top two as they were yesterday evening scheduled to take on underdog Mara, who lost all three matches to settle on the bottom with three bonus points.
According to Zablon, the top two teams are set to meet each other in today’s final.
Zablon said that Kagera were on their way to Simiyu, but TBF forced to cancel their trip because the team did not confirm their participation in time.
“Geita had also started their trip, but were too late and TBF was forced to withdraw them from the event,” added Zablon.
Tanga Regional Basketball Association (TRBA) official, Alphonce Kusekwa said that they could not travel to Simiyu due to several reasons.
