24 teams seek glory in ZITF tug of war

TWENTY-four teams are set to battle it out at this yearaï¿½ï¿½s edition of the Ingwebu National Tug-Of-War Championships at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) main arena on Saturday.

Group A has FBC A, Delta A, Ingwebu B, ZPC Munyati B , Mutare City and How Mine A. Group B comprises Ingwebu A, Delta B , CBZ B, Zesa Bulawayo and Hwange A.

In Group C there is Zesa Bulawayo A, Khami A, Hwange B, ZENT Harare, CBZ A andAï¿½ Chloride. Group D comprises Exide, How Mine B, ZPC Munyati A, FBC B, Khami BAï¿½ and BCC.

In the womenaï¿½ï¿½s section there are two pools with Group A having Ingwebu, BCC B, Tafara, Glow and Zesa Bulawayo while Group B has BCC A, CBZ, Zesa Harare and Mutare.

The continued sponsorship from Ingwebu is despite last yearaï¿½ï¿½s fiasco which saw the menaï¿½ï¿½s event being abandoned after a disagreement ahead of the semi-finals. Ingwebu went on to award prizes for women whose section was completed but withheld accolades for the men due to the debacle.

Ingwebu Breweries sales, marketing and corporate affairs manager Nkosana Prince Ndlovu said they never considered pulling out as sponsors of the event which is one of the major attractions on the ZITF Main Arena on the last day of the countryaï¿½ï¿½s premier trade showcase. A meeting took place and involved all stakeholders to address last yearaï¿½ï¿½s fiasco with clear roles being defined so as to avoid last yearaï¿½ï¿½s occurrence.

aï¿½?The decision to remain as sponsors was always there, we have never considered pulling out as sponsors, we are getting mileage from that sponsorship and it is doing what we require. We had a meeting with the stakeholders. We sat down and reviewed what transpired last year. What we realised is that there were no proper roles which resulted in ineffective communication and they could not take proper decisions. They all agreed that they will have one unitary way of running things. It was agreed that the Zimbabwe Tug of War Federation will be responsible for everything in terms of the running of the tournament. They will appoint the judges,aï¿½? he said.

Teams that will take part will converge on Gifford High School for the knockout stage with those that would have qualified for the next stage set to meet at the ZITF arena in the quarter-finals and the finals.

aï¿½?There will be knockouts from 8am to 12pm at Gifford High School. Teams that proceed to the quarter-finals will then compete at the ZITF main arena. We will have the finals from 2pm to 4pm,aï¿½? he said.

The annual event is bankrolled to the tune of $11 086 by the traditional opaque beer brewers. Winners of the competition in the menaï¿½ï¿½s section will walk away with $1 500 plus gold medals.Aï¿½ The first runners-up will get $1 000 while the team that will come out as the second runners-up will receive $700.

In the womenaï¿½ï¿½s section, the winners will get $800, runners-up $600 and $400 will be up for grabs for second runners-up while those in fourth spot will get a reward of $200. On top of the prize money and medals, the teams will also get Ingwebu products as part of accolades.