ZITF national tug-of-war champs draw held

Defending champions Mutare Board and Paper Mills were drawn against Delta B and look favourites to reach the last four of the 34-team event.
Ingwebu, How Mine, PPC, Zesa, Hwange, Mutare Board and Paper Mills, Olivine, Delta, Main Protective Clothing (Main Pro), Khami, Ziscosteel, NRZ, CBZ, GMB, BCC, TelOne and Chikurubi Prison are the teams that will participate in this year’s edition with some of the clubs fielding up to three teams while some have just one.
Speaking before the draw, Ingwebu marketing and corporate affairs general manager Themba Sibanda pledged his company’s continued sponsorship of the tournament and unveiled the package for this year.

“As Ingwebu we will continue sponsoring the ZITF tug-of-war tournament and this year the sponsorship package is better and we are expecting improved competition. Last year the prize money was $3 200 while this year we have $5 100 and the winners will walk away with $1 500, the runners-up $1 000, the two losing semi-finalists $600 each and the four losing quarter-finalists $350 apiece. The total sponsorship package is $12 000 compared to last year’s $10 000,” he said.

Zimbabwe-Tug-of-War (Zitowa) president Njabulo Khumalo assured the sponsors that they were going to see improved competition this year.
“The competition this year will definitely be  stiffer compared to previous years and we want to attract other sponsors through our performances on competition day. We are grateful to Ingwebu for their sponsorship and the continued support which continues to spur us on,” he said.

The championships will start at Gifford High School where knockouts will be held before the competition moves to ZITF grounds for the last eight battle on 28 April.
The defending champions are Mutare Board.

The draw
NRZ v CBZ C, How Mine v Chikurubi A, Olivine A v Khami B, Ziscosteel A v Olivine B, Delta A  v How Mine C, Hwange A v Ingwebu A, Delta B v Mutare Board, Zesa B v Main Pro B, Ingwebu B v PPC A, Chikurubi B v Delta C, Hwange B v TelOne B, Ziscosteel B v CBZ B, CBZ A v GMB, BCC v PPC C, How Mine B v Main Pro A, Zesa A v Khami A, TelOne A v PPC B.