At least seven teams are expected to compete in a table tennis tournament, designed as part of celebrations to mark the union of Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.
The tournament also aims at picking the national team that will represent the Isles at the East and Central Africa championships to be held at the Kisutu Secondary School in Dar es Salaam from Tuesday to Thursday next week.
Zanzibar Table Tennis Association (ZTTA) Secretary General, Nassir Abdallah said the three-day event starts today and will reach its climax on Monday.
“The ultimate objective is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the union but players who will excel in this tournament will be selected to form the Zanzibar national team ready for the regional event in Dar es Salaam,” he said. He said out of the seven teams, five are from Urban West, one from North Unguja and one from Pemba.
Abdallah said the association will also make final logistics to ensure that the Isles team put up a successful campaign in the regional championships, which will see Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Zanzibar and hosts Tanzania Mainland competing for top honours.
Meanwhile, JKU are inching closer to the Zanzibar Premier League promotion, following their 2-0 victory over Majimaji at the Mao Tse Tung Stadium here on Wednesday.
JKU took the lead after 16 minutes through Juma Mtumwa before Salum Abdallah sealed the victory with a minute to go.
Following the victory, JKT have amassed 55 points in the First Division League. Earlier, at the same venue, Chwaka Stars and Bridge fought to a 1-1 draw as the former took the lead three minutes to the interval through Emanuel Matius but Bridge fought back and levelled matter in the 86th minute through Ali Othman.
By MWAJUMA JUMA, Tanzania Daily News
