Author: SULEIMAN JONGO
AfricaPress-Tanzania: MWAJUMA Paul of Unguja had to blame herself for failure to convert points after missing an important decisive final ‘free throw’ that could have given her team a ticket to play in CRDB Taifa Cup final against Temeke.
Unguja on Friday failed to make it to the final, after losing 64-66 to Temeke in a nail-biting semifinal match staged here yesterday at Chinangali courts.
“I could have given my team the ticket had I won my last free throw,” said Paul after the match.
“ I feel remorse for missing that crucial chance,” she added.
She said that her team had 50-50 equal chances with Temeke to win the match, but lucky was not theirs. Unguja, who came back from two earlier defeats they suffered in the first and second quarters, missed about six clear ‘free throws’ that could have given them the ticket.
The whole technical bench of Unguja was totally disappointed from their misfortunes, turning their heads down when the final whistle blew up.
“We failed to capitalise on those free throws, otherwise it was our match to win,” said Unguja’s head coach, Daruweshi Shamuni.
The first quarter saw Temeke leading by 17-11 and extended their lead in the second quarter to win by 20-14. Unguja came from behind to win the remaining quarters by 15-11 and 24-18 but, it was too late for them to match the score.
Upendo Mpera steered Temeke to the narrow victory, posting 23 points as Faraja Malaki supported 10 others. Tupege Lazaro had on the other hand netted 17 points for Unguja with Bhoke Juma scoring 15 others.
“It was a tough match, but thank God we won,” said Khadija Issa of Temeke. She said that her team could have won with a big margin had they utilised well the chances.
“We had no accurate passes and did not respond well to rebounds,’ said Issa. The win will therefore see Temeke playing in today’s final against a winner of last evening’s match that CRDB Youth were pitting against hosts, Dodoma. Meanwhile, Mbeya were late in the evening on Friday, they expected to play Songwe in the men’s semifinal while Ilala had the same assignment against Temeke.
The would-be winners will today play in the final.
CRDB has sponsored the event that has brought together 36 men and women teams from both Tanzania mainland and the Isles to compete for the national level honour.
