National Finals kick off tonight at Demerara Car Park

FOLLOWING intense and exhilarating action in three areas, namely Georgetown, Linden and East Coast, the stage is now set for the playing of the National Competition in the Petra Organisation-organised, Banks DIH-sponsored Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal tournament.This tournament which kicks off tonight at the Banks DIH Demerara Car Park and is being contested over the next two nights at the same venue, is being held to arrive at the winner who will go on to represent Guyana at the Regional Competition, scheduled to be played June 6-7, at the Jean Pierre Complex in Trinidad and Tobago.
The finals will be played over three days among eight teams – four will come from Georgetown, three from Linden and one from East Coast Demerara, with the Georgetown teams being the first to be decided, since their local championship was the first one held.
To this end, champions Queen Street/Tiger Bay, along with the respective runners-up in Stevedore Housing Scheme, Hope Street/ Tiger Bay and Albouystown ‘B’ all earned a spot in the National playoffs, where they were later joined by Eagles, Retrieve Unknowns and Wismar Housing Scheme of Linden, while Melanie ‘A’ of East Coast of Demerara, added their name to the pool last Sunday.
Rensford Coleridge, Dwight Peters, Deron Smith, Darrel George, Yohan Simon, Rena Carter, Deon Alfred, Dion Fredericks, Elroy Parks and Quason Winter are some of the players who will be on show for their respective teams over the next three nights.
According to Co-Director of Petra Organisation, Troy Mendonca, preliminary round action will be played tonight and tomorrow night along with the semifinals, while on Sunday night, the third-place playoff and final will be hosted. The eight participating teams will be placed in two groups of four.
Queen Street/Tiger Bay, Retrieve Unknowns, Albouystown ‘B’ and Wismar Housing Scheme will be doing battle out of Group ‘A’, leaving Eagles, Stevedore, Melanie ‘A’ and Hope Street/Tiger Bay, to do the same out of Group ‘B’, where they will be battling for supremacy, on a round-robin/knockout basis.
The winning team from this national competition will go up against the hosts who are the defending champions, along with teams from Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, St Kitts, Jamaica and Antigua in the Caribbean championships.
The winner of that competition will receive US$5000 and an Introductory Advanced Level Coaching Course accredited by FIFA, hence an exciting three-day action is anticipated by Futsal-loving fans who are expected to throng the venue.