Story by Lawrence Trusida, Sports Editor
PREPARATIONS for the Carling Black Label National Pool finals are at an advanced stage with provincial finals taking place at various centres across the country.
The Carling Black Label National Pool Championship has been running for over 10 years and is the Premier competition for the country’s top billiards.
This year’s National Pool Finals will be held on the 27th of July in Harare.
The regional finals are already in full swing at 25 different centres across the country with over 2000 players taking part.
“We are excited at this year competitions it has already started at 36 districts and that will lead us to regional finals that will be held in Harare, Chitungwiza and Bulawayo that will culminate into the National finals.
“We are excited with the partnership that we have with the Zimbabwe Pool Association as we have managed to spread the sport now it’s being played professionally in Gokwe and other areas and the number of players has increased over the years and we also hope to continue increasing our sponsorship as the sport grows.”
This year’s purse has been increased with the winners set to pocket US$2 500 and a pool table from last year’s US$1 500.
The Zimbabwe Pool Association is grateful for the partnership which has seen Delta Beverages consistently supporting the sport.
“The sport has been growing so much and we are happy the regional finals are going on smoothly, last week we had three provinces this week we are going to have two more. We thank Delta for their sponsorship we have managed to open two new province in Gokwe and Chiredzi so shows how the sport has been growing,” said Zimbabwe Pool Association, technical director, Wellington Chikasha.
Lindani Gumpo of Palace Pool Club in Bulawayo is the defending men’s champion, while Patricia Ganya from Chitungwiza took the honours in the women’s category.
