Cezobal holds Pirates Casino Invitational tourney

Central Zone Basketball League (Cezobal) will on Friday hold a day-long Pirates Casino Invitational Tournament at Civo Court, Lilongwe.

The tournament has been sponsored by The Pirates Casino, a gambling shop, to the tune of K80 000 (about $250).

Last year, the tournament attracted two teams from the Southern Zone Basketball League (Sozobal) Bricks and Magang’a while the host teams were Mimbulu and Pirates.

According to Cezobal vice-chairperson Barlett Mafuleka, the event has involved teams that finished first round in the bottom four positions in Cezobal men’s league. The four teams are Pirates, Bayonets, Mdzodzo and Alliance One.

“The tournament will also involve two women’s teams; these are the newly formed teams in the women’s league Blue Eagles and Trojan Ladies. The Pirates Casino manager Dale Delany told us that they have done this to encourage and motivate the bottom teams in the league. This will give an opportunity to one of the teams to win something,” said Mafuleka.

“We are thankful to The Pirates Casino on coming back and sponsoring the tournament. We are looking at this being an annual tournament. We are also pleased that the sponsors are looking at assisting and motivating the bottom teams in the men’s league and also helping in the development of women’s basketball by involving the new women’s teams. It will motivate the teams to work hard and improve their skills,” said Mafuleka.

Saturday’s fixtures are as follows: Pirates vs Alliance One; Bayonnets vs Mdzodzo and Blue Eagles vs Trojan.

Mimbulu were the tournament’s inaugural winners last year. They beat Bricks 64-46 in the finals.