Handball: Black Mamba blow hopes of lifting regional handball title

Black Mamba’s hopes of lifting the East and Central Africa Handball Club Championship went up in smoke as they settled for a 27-27 draw with Kenyan counterparts National Cereals and Produce Board(NCPB) yesterday in Temeke, Tanzania.

Mamba’s Antony Ngetaso led the scores of the encounter with six goals with teammates Michael Okore and Byron Agunda scoring five each.

Clinton Maiko and Timothy Kirimi scored five apiece with teammates John Wante and Thodosia Sangoro scoring four each for NCPB.

The 2012 Kenya Handball Federation league champions, Mamba, needed a win from this fixture to keep their hopes of lifting the title alive.

With the draw, Mamba have collected four points from four matches and will have to wait for the results in the last match of the championship pitting NCPB and Police of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) set for today afternoon to know their final ranking.

The Congolese have had a good championship so far, winning all their three matches. Should they beat NCPB, they will be crowned the new regional kings following the absence of reigning champions Kenya Defence Forces.

NCPB have to win this encounter with a superior goal difference to finish in the runner-up spot because their counterparts, Strathmore registered their second win of the championship with 27-21 against  Jeshi la Kujenga Taifa(JKT) of Tanzania yesterday.

Strathmore has five points from two wins and a draw and they are likely to finish second if NCPB falter.

In the women’s category, NCPB posted their first win of the championship 
24-18 against the hosts JKT.

NCPB will now wait for the arrival of Evabuka from DRC for their last match today. [Rebecca Jebet]