Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
THE Bulawayo Provincial Pool Association (BPPA) is set to host two major national pool tournaments on August 27 and 28.
The two tournaments are the National Elite Players Association of Zimbabwe (NEPAZ) and The Mayez 24 Men Open.
The NEPAZ tournament will be held at Queens Academy on 27 August while the Mayez will be at Dawn on the following day.
NEPAZ is a national tournament which rotates around the country and is affiliated to Zimbabwe Pool Association while Mayez is a brand for local businessmen who seek to promote pool players through engaging them in challenging matches.
“We are happy to be the hosting province for these two major tournaments with players coming from all over the country taking part,” said BPPA marketing and publicity officer Ozzy Dziko.
Registration fee for the NEPAZ tournament is US$25 for members of the organisation and US$30 for non-members. Prize money for the competition is US$500 for first position, US$300 for second and third gets US$200.
So far 64 people have registered for the tournament.
NEPAZ chairman Tirivanhu “Trigger” Fanati said hosting the tournaments means a lot for the city of Bulawayo.
“It means a lot to the people of Bulawayo to be hosting such an event being graced by players from as far as Harare, Mutare, Beitbridge and Chinhoyi,” said Fanati.
For the Mayez 24 Open, registration fee is US$50 for everyone and the winner goes home with US$700. Second position will pocket US$300 while third gets US$150.
The tournament organisers are expecting about 30 players.
One of the Mayez tournament organisers, Frank Masuku believes that hosting such a tournament is good for the youngsters from Bulawayo as they will get the chance to be around household names in the sport.
“There are a lot of youngsters who are still growing, so it’s good for them to see big players, the likes of Tendai Mubaiwa, Steven Paswani, Stanley Marko and Stanley Ngwenya, they gain experience from watching them play or even play with them,’ said Masuku.
According to Dziko, this will be one of the few times where winners of tournaments go home with prize money.
“Most past tournaments people have been playing for livestock as prizes and if you add both prize monies, it’s summing up to US$2 150,” said Dziko.
Dziko believes that such competitions will help in improving the livelihoods of those who chose to professionalise the sport.
“The game is also proving to be a source of livelihood for those who professionalise it, but you have to be talented as well just like in any other sport,” he said.
The Secretary General for NEPAZ Obedience Lewis believes that having such tournaments spread across the country is good for the game.
“We are trying to build our sport together as a whole country, we are going everywhere to teach people about the game of pool,” said Lewis.
As the country’s finest will be competing at Queens Academy, the “elders” will be converging at Nketa 8 Sports Bar for their own competition — the Bulawayo Elders Tournament.
The tournament is for members who are above the age of 40.
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