Loss reduces Salima’s Caf schools tourney semi-final chances

Malawi’s representatives at the on-going African Schools Championship, Salima Secondary School, are banking on luck in their quest to make the last four after a 2-0 loss to Ben Sekou of Guinea at King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban, South Africa, Thursday.

This is Salima’s second loss of the inaugural competition, having also gone down 2-0 to Sainte Rita of Benin.

The Malawians started the continental showpiece with a 1-1 draw with South Africa’s Glaham High School.

As things stand, Salima have one point from three matches, five points behind leaders Sekou.

Glaham are second with four points from two matches whereas Rita have three points.

Salima conclude their assignments this afternoon with a showdown against Algeria’s CEM Belaouche Mouhend Oulhadji.

This is a must-win match for Salima if they want to advance to the semi-finals.

The tournament’s organisers changed the format to round robin after some teams failed to show up.

The top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals, with the winners progressing to the final.

The losing semi-finalists will battle for bronze medals.

Malawi Schools Sports Association Chairperson Blackson Malamula, who is with the team, said anything can happen.

“We still have chances. It’s not over yet. We just need to concentrate on the job at hand and fight for mother Malawi,’’ Malamula said.

Salima qualified for the finals after finishing as runners-up to Glaham in the boys’ category during the Regional Schools Tournament at Bingu National Stadium in October last year.

The final will see some of the continent’s greatest young talents from the winning schools battling for the top prize of $300,000 (about K300 million).

Runners-up and third-placed teams will get $250,000 and $150,000, respectively.