Times Of Swaziland: MORE WOMEN FOR POOL NATIONAL PLAY-OFFS

MORE WOMEN FOR POOL NATIONAL PLAY-OFFS
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BY CHRIS DLAMINI on 07/10/2021 08:12:00


EZULWINI – Pool is certainly coming home in Eswatini.
After over a decade of non-official activity, including international
participation due to political leadership battles, last year was the most
successful for the sport after they regained recognition by the country’s
government through the Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council (ESRC). The sport
is back on its feet officially and vying for its first national teams’
selection play-offs in the form of National Championships.
The new mother body for pool or all cue sport in the kingdom, Eswatini Cue Sport
Association (ECSA) will be running the play-offs to select national under-23s,
senior men’s team, senior women’s team and masters. The play-offs are
expected to kick-off soon, but the date is yet to be made official. ECSA
President Muntu Dlamini noted that they were impressed by the registration of
the opposite sex because most of them had been missing in action despite that
the sport was always played domestically with private sponsors, but
male-dominated.
By last Friday, 12 players had been confirmed to compete for a place in the
latest national team since 2008. However, the number has risen as registration
continues while ECSA works on the logistics as well as on sponsorships.
“We’re excited to announce the ladies are back in the game and we’ll
certainly have a competitive squad. We’ve had a few more join the
championships,” Dlamini said.
Three more players were added to the list for the senior women’s national team
qualifiers and will give big names like Figaredo Pool Club’s Ncobile Dlamini,
Royal Eswatini Police Service’s (REPS) Sebe Simelane-Mbingo (Good shot’s
mother), the experienced Nandi Mkhwanazi, Sanchez Simelane, Baliwe Mnyakeni and
Nikita Littler, among others. The latest additions are Vumile Nosipho Dlamini,
Jabu Dlamini and Thandiswa Dlamini. The play-offs were initially scheduled to
start last week until this weekend but new dates will be announced.