Khetho, Francis win Metropolitan chess finals
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Thursday April 24, 2014 11:17
The quality in the competition is exemplified by the fact that the runner-up, Barileng Gaealafswe only lost to the eventual champion whild third placed, Thato Oleebile’s only setback was against the two top men. The pattern repeated itself in position four where the defending champion, Ignatius Njobvu only lost to the top three.The high scoring sequence continued in the women’s category where Onkemetse Francis lost only one game en-route to being crowned champion with seven out of nine points. She was tied on points with undefeated former champion, Boikhutso Mudongo who finished second because she drew four times. Tshepiso Lopang was a close third with 6.5 points after losing one game and drawing three. Onkemetse’s win means that the Metropolitan National Championships trophy returned to her family for the second time after her sister Thapelo Francis lifted the crown in 2011 while still a student at Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School.
Meanwhile, in his acceptance speech, Khetho complained that over 75 percent of the sponsorship money went into logistics. He was not happy that the cash for top prize only doubled after the first year of inception eight years ago when the sponsorship was P80,000.
Some players told Mmegi Sport that media events such as the tournament launch and the launch of the top 20 are costly and unnecessary. While Khetho’s speech was thunderously applauded, the acting BNSC CEO Thato Kgosimore and Botswana Chess Federation director of public relations, Katisenge Keenese called for calm, explaining that the funds were put to good use.