Sport Public Eye
June 01, 2018
Dream final as giants clash NEO SENOKO
M
ASERU - It is indeed a dream final for both Lichocha Shooting Rivals (LSR) and Lerotholi Polytechnic as both teams fight for their inaugural basketball championship trophy this season. Both teams fought tough battles to be in the finals of the competition and are focused and highly motivated to claim the championship for the first time in history. The battle for the championship started during the regular season with both sides finishing well within the top four to claim a spot in the championship round. Lerotholi Polytechnic surprised many in basketball circles, finishing second on the regular season while LSR actually won the regular season campaign. Both teams then continued with their fine form in the top four campaigns with Lerotholi Polytechnic kicking the basketball powerhouses Khubetsoana All-stars (KTA) out of the tourney in the first semi-final while LSR thumped Bokamoso South in another semi-final to advance to the finals. Unlike in the past, the two teams playing the finals are seen as more deserving as they finished first and second on the regular season campaign. Thus the final encounter gives a true reflection of the 2018 edition of the basketball season. Howeve r, w i n n i n g t h e reg u l a r season is not widely celebrated in the local basketball league as the top four championship is seen as the ultimate triumph and carries all the bragging rights. That means LSR will have to win the championship if they are to be recognised as the best this season while the students will also have to fight tooth and nail to write their own history. With the finals having employed the best of five series model to determine the winner, both teams have already played the first two matches and the score line
remains tight at 1-1. LSR took the lead in the first match, narrowly beating the students 77-75. But Lerotholi Polytechnic bounced back in the second encounter with an emphatic 72-64 triumph against the rivals. The champions therefore could be decided this weekend and each team oozes with confidence that it will claim the trophy. For that to happen, one of them would have to win two games consecutively this weekend as that will give them three points with one game to spare. On the other hand, if the spoils are shared again this weekend, the champions will only be decided in the last game. Winning the championship could be the best moment for Lerotholi Polytechnic; that is for both the players and the institution, according to the team captain Nako Mafube. “From what I know, our team has never been this successful before, we are already happy with the achievements this season but we know there is an even bigger fish to fry,” Makube said in an interview with Public Eye on Tuesday this week. He added: “Based on our performance this season I strongly believe we have what it takes to beat LSR just like we did last week and if we do that, motivation is very high in our camp and that is enough to go all the way.” LSR president Prince Ramoeletsi also expressed their desire to lay hands on their maiden championship trophy. “It would be a dream come true for us to finally win the tournament and I can confidently say that we have the upper hand over our opponents because we have competed in the top four before while it is their debut appearance here,” Ramoeletsi said. He added: “Even their squad is not as experienced as we are, but we have noticed what they are capable of and we are well prepared to go into the third round of the series.”
Public Eye
Friday June 1, 2018 21
International Sport News
Terry won’t return to Aston Villa LIAM TWOMEY
J
ohn Terry has left Aston Villa after Saturday’s defeat a ga i n st Fu l h a m i n t h e Championship playoff final, both the club and the player announced on Wednesday. The former Chelsea captain played a key role in helping Villa to the brink of promotion to the Premier League, making 32 Championship appearances, and manager Steve Bruce last week indicated that he hoped the 37-year-old might trigger the 12-month extension option in his contract at the club. But in a post on Instagram, Terry said: “Today I part ways with Aston Villa Football Club. I’m very proud to have had the opportunity to play and captain this great and huge club. “I have given my everything this year both on and off the pitch and I’m still hurting today that we never managed to get back to the Premier League, where this club 100 percent belongs. “I would like to thank Steve Bruce who was instrumental in me joining Villa, I have learnt so much from him as a manager this season that will stay with me forever. Also, I’d like to thank all the staff and players and our owner Dr Tony [Xia], who it was a real pleasure and honour to work with every day. “Finally, a special thank you to the Villa supporters who
have supported us both home and away in their thousands, up and down the country and have been amazing to me on a p e rs o n a l level. Villa will have a a lways place in my heart will look and I back on m y
time here and think about how close we were to reaching our goal. “But now going forward, I wo u l d l i ke t o w i s h t h e management, staff, players and supporters good luck for the future.” Terry gave no indication whether he will retire this summer or look to continue his professional career at another club. He has repeatedly stated his desire in transitioning into management when he hangs up his boots. In a statement confirming his departure on their website, Aston Villa said: “We would like to place on record our most sincere thanks for the effort and professionalism he showed with us last season. “John is a true leader and was everything and more that we hoped. Hugely popular and influential in the dressing room, he played a real captain’s role in creating the incredible bond the players shared with our supporters, and vice-versa. “We hope he looks back on his time with Villa fondly and we wish him the very best as his career moves forward for the future.” - Espn
Serena Williams causes a stir by wearing Nike ‘catsuit’ LIAM PRENDERVILLE Serena Williams (pictured) has caused a stir with her attire at the French Open. The 36-year-old has returned to the Grand Slam stage at Roland Garros from maternity leave after the birth of daughter Junior last September. W i l l i a m s l o s t h e r No. 1 ranking due to her inactivity and is unseeded for t h e tournament. She was d raw n a ga i n s t Kristyna Pliskova in her first round match as tennis fans
John Terry is leaving Aston Villa after failing to win promotion to the Premier League.
PSG need to get next step right with Tim Weah PARIS - Thomas Tuchel’s arrival as Paris Saint-Germain coach is an opportunity for a number of the French champions’ senior players and one of those concerned is young United States international Timothy Weah (pictured). Despite his father George’s illustrious career on and off the pitch, which featured a PSG chapter between 1992-95, the younger Weah is perhaps still not as obvious a candidate as Julian Draxler to take on greater importance under Tuchel. However, in his two showings for the USMNT at senior level - the latest produced a goal in a 3-0 win over Bolivia on Monday - Weah, who turned professional last July, has shown that he deserves serious consideration from the German tactician as he revamps the French champions. The 18-year-old made his senior debuts for club and country back in March, and has done enough on the pitch to generate
significant excitement and buzz in France as well as in his home country. It has quickly become
obvious, though, that the teenage sensation’s development will be hindered going forward if he continues to largely make up the
numbers at senior club level - in Ligue 1 or elsewhere - next season. Before the Bolivia friendly, Weah admitted that has not
eagerly awaited her return to the court. But her attire was the main focus at Roland Garros as Williams took to the court in an all-black Nike ‘catsuit’. She has wore similar items before but given she only gave birth eight months ago, her attire got tongues wagging. Williams bodysuit came with short sleeves and longer leggings and does meet court rules on dress codes. And she got off to a fine start too as she won the first set tie-break against Pliskova 7-6. Williams took the second 6-4 to secure her place in the second round. She will now face A s h l e i g h B a r ty o f Australia in the next round. After the win Williams said: “All the moms out there that had a tough pregnancy and have to come back and try to be fierce, in the middle of everything. “That’s what this represents. You can’t beat a cat suit, right?” “I’m very happy. She played really well, she made a lot of aces. “Two years has been a long time but I trained really hard on the clay. I’m taking it a day at a time.” -Mirror yet spoken with Tuchel but considering his goal against the South Americans, that chat with the former Borussia Dortmund and Mainz coach has now taken on greater importance. The boy from New York City could add to that conversation’s pressing need again with upcoming friendlies against the Republic of Ireland and France in Europe. “I have not talked with him at all,” Weah said. “I hope when I get back, though, I can have a conversation with him during the preseason - in terms of my future.” So far, Weah has developed nicely at senior level in Paris, being slowly introduced to the fold, alongside superstar Neymar and French football’s golden boy Kylian Mbappe. Les Parisiens’ No. 37 made his first senior start away at Caen in the final match of the campaign in Le Championnat and fared well, teeing up Javier Pastore nicely for a chance that the Argentina international should have done better with early on at Stade Michel d’Ornano. - Espn
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Public Eye
Friday June 1, 2018
Sport News From The Terraces NTHAKO MAJORO
Will Likuena triumph? Likuena face eSwatini Sihlangu in the Cosafa Cup tomorrow and the question is: will Moses Maliehe’s team triumph over their Swazi counterparts? Sihlangu, like Likuena, are yet to win the Cosafa tournament and the two teams meet in the quarter-finals after they did not start in the group stages following their impressive performance in the previous editions of the competition. Both Sihlangu and Likuena were knocked out in the semi-finals at last year’s tournament. Likuena lost 4-3 to Zimbabwe’s Warriors, while Sihlangu lost 1-0 to Namibia. The last time the two teams met in the Cosafa tournament was in 2015 and Sihlangu beat Lesotho 2-0. Between 2002 and 2014, Sihlangu beat Likuena three times, while the Lesotho team beat them twice and they drew once. Both countries also played several friendly matches before and afterwards, where each team beat the other and also lost some games. But one cannot really write home about those friendly matches. Likuena’s major task now is to win all their upcoming matches, no matter who the opponents they face are. The point I am trying to make here is that Lesotho should not lose in the quarter-finals again, like they did at last year’s Cosafa tourney. It is about time Likuena ended their so-near-and-yet-so-far performance in the competition. Their best performance ever in the competition was when they reached the final of the 2000 edition. That was 17 years ago. Since then Likuena have struggled consistently to put up a similar showing in the tournament. They reached the Cosafa Cup semifinals twice after the 2000 impressive performance. That was in 2012 and last year under the guidance of Leslie Notsi and the current Likuena coach Moses Maliehe respectively. They were the best losers at that 2000 tournament but they managed to go all the way to the final. And I still believe Likuena could have been crowned the champions had the players not quarrelled over allowances with the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA). The incident will continue haunting us for years to come until we finally redeem ourselves by winning our first COSAFA cup trophy. It would do the country a lot of good if the current Likuena squad could deliver an extraordinary performance and end our crown drought in the tournament. So the bigger picture should not just be about winning the eSwatini match but about dominating the tournament and finally returning home as champions. This is the 19th edition of the Cosafa competition and if to date we still haven’t won a single edition of the tourney that surely makes Likuena a run-of-the-mill side in the region.
Mehalalitoe have to up their defending tactics against Banyana-Banyana to win
Mehalalitoe urged to play tough NEO SENOKO
M
ASERU – The women’s national side Mehalalitoe need to be clinical in front of goals if they are to win their game against their South African counterparts Banyana-Banyana when the two meet in an AFCON qualifier next week Wednesday. Mehalalitoe’s captain Boitumelo ‘Queen’ Rabale said although their opponents might be some of the best contenders in the region, Lesotho have equal chances of winning the encounter and progressing to the 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations scheduled for Ghana later this year. The first leg of the tie will be held at
Setsoto Stadium while the second will follow in Bloemfontein, South Africa that Sunday. To record their maiden appearance in the continental tournament, Mehalalitoe shall have to beat the defending COSAFA champions Banyana Banyana in the twolegged tie. Rabale who plies her trade with SA side Bloemfontein Celtic ladies knows exactly what Mehalalitoe should do to outsmart their strong opponents. “They are one of the strongest teams in the region but we have a side that can upset them at the moment. We just have to stay focused throughout the game, use all our chances as they come and be very good in defense because they can be very aggressive
and fast upfront,” Rabale warned in an interview with Public Eye on Tuesday. Team head coach Monaheng Montšo has expressed his confidence in his charges, saying they have what it takes to upset many and go all the way to the finals. “They might be COSAFA champions but I think we have an amazing team that can challenge anyone. We can beat them but my players will have to be at their best, meaning we now have to sit down and come up with a proper game plan,” Montšo said. Mehalalitoe have already surpassed expectations when they beat Swaziland both at home and away to advance to the second round but are now faced with a bigger test to realize their longtime dream.
Hope after taekwondo star relocates NTHAKO MAJORO
Taekwondo star Marumo Moloisane
M AS E RU- L e s o t h o i n te r n a t i o n a l taekwondo star Marumo Moloisane won a bronze medal from the Austria Open last Sunday after losing to an American fighter in the semi-final. According to the Lesotho Taekwondo Association (LTA)’s public relations officer Sek’hok’he Molikoe, Moloisane kicked his way to the podium at the expense of opponents from Germany, the Republic of Moldova and Belgium. The fine performance by the 24-year-old Lesotho flyweight champion comes after he relocated to Germany last December on an Olympic sponsorship. He will be based at a high performance training centre in that Western European country until the 2020 Olympic Games. Molikoe said there’s no doubt that Moloisane’s performance had improved since he moved to Europe, a sign which he said indicates he is getting quality training in Germany. “His performance has improved tremendously and of course this is a sign that he is getting quality training since he relocated to Germany in the past six months,” said Molikoe in an interview with Public Eye on Wednesday.
Moloisane was not making his debut European appearance at a European tournament when he competed in the Austria Open last week since he moved to Germany. In February, the fighter competed at the European Championship held in Turkey where he lost his first fight. “His second appearance was at the Dutch Open Championship in Netherlands where he lost his second match. In Belgium he lost in his third fight,” Molikoe said. At the African Championship in Morocco he made it to the quarter-finals before he lost his first match in the German Open. Moloisane’s other recent fights were the African Championship in Morocco and the German Open, where he reached the quarter-finals and lost the first fight respectively. He also participated at the President Cup in Morocco in March where he lost his second fight. Mo l i ko e sa i d Mo l o i sa n e ’s n ex t appearance would be at the Lux Open in Croatia next month. Moloisane’s Germany sponsorship falls under the development progress for the preparation of the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.
Public Eye
Friday June 1, 2018 23
Sport News
Likuena coach talks tough on Swazi tie
FILE pic: Likuena striker Jane Thaba-ntšo, far right, in a match against Comoros during the AFCON qualifier clash
NTHAKO MAJORO
M
ASERU - Likuena head coach Moses Maliehe says his team’s track
record against eSwatini will not count for anything when the two meet in a crucial Cosafa quarterfinal match this Saturday. Likuena and the eSwatini
team have played several friendly matches in the past and each team has won and lost against the other on numerous occasions. The last time the two met in a
Jukskei players
Local sportspeople to love jukskei NTHAKO MAJORO MASERU – A sport called jukskei will be introduced to local sportspeople in Les otho with Lesotho High School sport grounds this weekend set to be alive with jostling sportspeople keen to learn the game. According to a local jukskei instructor, Mojapela ’Mefane, the launch of this new sport will last from Friday until Saturday. ’Mefane, who is also an
international taekwondo referee and former Lesotho Taekwondo Association (LTA) vice president, said they were expecting three experts from South Africa who will formally introduce the sport as well as conduct coaching clinics for teachers, students and pupils from different schools in Maseru. “Participants will be drawn from six to seven schools, from Maseru, both primary and high schools,” said ’Mefane in an interview with Public Eye.
He added: “Of course we are targeting youngsters especially school children but we also need teachers for technical positions like coaches and referees. A f te r t h e we e ke n d ’s introduction, ’Mefane said their plan was to visit other districts across the breadth of Lesotho, to also introduce jukskei to communities there before they launch a jukskei association. To date, Lesotho has four South African-trained jukskei
COSAFA tournament was in 2015 when Swaziland beat Likuena 2-0 in group stages. But Maliehe believes that the upcoming Cosafa tie will be instructors. “We were four soldiers who attended a jukskei training in South Africa around 2009,” ’Mefane indicated, adding however, that the sport was thereafter never officially introduced in Lesotho. “Of course the sport had never existed in Lesotho since then until now when I take the initiative to introduce it,” ’Mefane said. Thanks to South African jukskei administrators who in April this year invited ’Mefane to a dialogue about the sport, because that’s where the issue to include jukskei among local sports was discussed at length. ’Mefane said apart from South Africa, jukskei is now also played in countries like Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique in the region. Jukskei is considered to be one of the most difficult sport codes in the world. It is played in a field that has two sand pits separated by a patch of grass in the middle. The equipment required for playing the game are wooden pins, known as skies, and a target wooden peg. It is believed that jukskei was first played around 1743 in the Cape when transport riders who travelled by ox-wagons started using the wooden pins of the yokes of the oxen to throw at a stick that was planted into the ground. It is known that the sport was also played during the Great Trek, and in later years by farmers from the Boland on beaches during their holidays. In 1939 jukskei became an organised sport and rules were formalised.
a different ball game altogether given the stage the two rivals meet at. “(eSwatini) are a tough team. We have played several friendly matches against them and we both lost to each other,” the coach told Public Eye in an interview on Tuesday. He added: “But now the situation is different because this is not going to be a friendly match like in previous occasions.” Likuena played two friendly games against South African clubs last week, ABC Motsepe League campaigners Maccabi FC on Wednesday and against the National First Division (NFD) side Jomo Cosmos the following day. Cosmos held Likuena to a 2-2 draw and Maccabi to a 1-1 draw. Maliehe said they played the two matches to test their strength a ga i n st t h e So u t h A f r i ca n sides. “The two games were just a reflection of how we can play, especially the game against Cosmos because they have a very good team. “And I am satisfied with the results because we managed to gauge our players and make the final selection.” Lesotho’s final team for the Cosafa tournament is made up of 20 players. This was after Maliehe dropped Lebajoa Mosehlenyane, Mosiuoa Boseka and Kefuoe Mahula from his squad. The three are midfielders, and this leaves Likuena with seven other midfielders from a total of 10. Maliehe also beefed-up his defence by including United States of America based Lesia Thetsane. Thetsane’s inclusion in the team has increased the number of defenders to five to six. The former Kick4Life utility player is with the State Fair Community College in USA, which he joined in 2016 after he was named the Kick4Life Player of the Season. Other foreign based players in the squad comprise Luciano Matsoso (midfielder) who plays for MSK Oskar Przysucha in Poland and Tšoarelo Bereng (striker) who is plying trade in Botswana. Before joining the Botswana outfit, Bereng played for the Absa Premiership side Chippa United. Likuena have never won the Cosafa Cup. Their best performance in the competition was when they reached the finals in 2000, where they lost 6-0 to Zimbabwe on aggregate, 3-0 home and 3-0 away as playing two legs was the format in those years. Last year, Likuena reached the semi-finals after beating Namibia 5-4 on penalty shootouts following a goalless draw in regulation time. But they later went down 4-3 at the hands of Zimbabwe in the semi-final.