Softball lose protest against South Africa
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday July 2, 2022 06:00
The BSA lost the initial appeal before escalating the matter, but there was no success. BSA president, Katlholo Mosimanegape said they have decided not to pursue the matter further.
He said the Africa adjudication team handled the protest. “We lost the protest in level one then we went to level two where we lost again. We were protesting against the presence of a foreign object in the field.
The object made our pitchers uncomfortable,” he said. Mosimanegape said despite the loss, they remain convinced that they had a case. He said they do not have anything against South Africa, all they wanted was a fair game. Botswana lost the match 4-3 but felt there was some obstruction on the pitch, which influenced the outcome.
Meanwhile, preparations for the Phikwe Extravaganza softball tournament are at an advanced stage. The main hurdle that the organisers are facing is a lack of sponsorship as one of the major sponsors, Komatsu Botswana has pulled out. The 12th edition of the tournament is scheduled for the upcoming President’s Day holidays in Selebi-Phikwe.
The women’s qualifiers in the Southern zone were played over the weekend in Gaborone. The Northern zone qualifiers for both men and women were completed last weekend.
The tournament organiser, Oeme Morupisi told Mmegi Sport that if it was not for the outbreak of COVID-19, the tournament was going to be celebrating 14 years. He said this year things are tough and preparing for the tournament has not been easy. Despite that, Morupisi said they have managed to secure prize monies. “Our standard has lowered, from P40,000 in 2019 to P20,000 this year for the champions of both men and women. Our budget for the tournament used to be between P900,000 and P1 million. But losing sponsors like Komatsu has reduced our budget and it means we are cutting out other things like appreciation dinner,” he said.
One of the teams that will be at this year's finals is Rail Giants. Speaking to Mmegi Sport, Rail Giants coach, Pako Maforaga said going into the qualifiers they had just had a terrible championship where they lost all their games. “So everyone thought the same will repeat. We put in some work and we were able to stand our ground and won all our games.
I am proud of the women’s team for their grit,” he said.
Qualified teams: North: (women) Comets, Carats, Rail Giants and Ghetto Yankees. (Men): Comets, Carats, Rail Giants and Rebels. South (women): Police, Titans, BDF IX and Vikings.