Tanzania women’s hockey club, Twende, has improved within a short time and put up an impressive performance during the just ended Africa Hockey Club Championship in Uganda.
Assistant coach Mnonda Magani said the ladies have improved significantly and managed to finish fifth out of six teams at the continental tournament held at Lugogo ground in Kampala. “Twende were taking part in the championship for the first time but their performance was fantastic,” Magani told the ‘Daily News’ after the team had returned home by bus from Kampala on Tuesday.
“They did their best and were placed in the same group with eventually champions Orange Telkom of Kenya,” he added. Twende, which is formed by national ladies team, lost 3-1 to Orange Telcom and 1-0 to hosts Ugandan Weatherhead at the group stage.
Coached by Italian Valentina Quaranta they beat Uganda’s Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) 5-0 in the fifth place play-off. “This is a good result considering that this is a new team and it was its second international ousting,” Magani said.
Twende is the same team that represented Tanzania for the first time at the Africa Hockey Cup of Nations tournament in Nairobi, Kenya last November. Unlike in Nairobi where they lost almost every match with more than 10 goals, they did not suffer a heavy defeat at the club championship and at least they recorded their first international win.
Magani said that the two tournaments have given the team the need international exposure and experience that will grow from there. The men’s title went to Egypt Police while compatriots Elsharki finished second. The third spot went to Golden Sticks of Ghana. Financial constraints prevented Tanzania to send a men’s team to both the Nairobi and Kampala tournaments.
By MBONILE BURTON, Tanzania Daily News