… Group stage starts tonight

IT was upset galore on opening night of the inaugural Guinness ‘Cage football’ Indoor Championship, hosted by Three Peat Promotions, which got started on Tuesday night, at the National Gymnasium.

Playing before a large crowd at the Mandela Avenue facility, the 32 teams that were on show treated the fans to an exciting brand of football with quite a few underdogs registering upsets against some well-established teams.
Among the early casualties were Sophia who were soundly beaten 3-0 by newcomers MBK All Stars, while Old Skool Ballers squeezed past Broad Street 2-1 and West Demerara’s Showstoppers edged a strong Tucville unit 1-0.

Teams from the Mining Town of Linden found the going tough with Guinness national champions Dave & Celena All Stars losing in a penalty shootout against Pike Street Sophia, who were returning to competition after a hiatus, while Silver Bullets exited the competition after going down to Tiger Bay 1-2.

However, some of the other top teams to advance to the Group stage are: Sparta Boss, West Front Road ‘Gold is Money’, Tiger Bay, North Ruimveldt, Albouystown ‘A’ and ‘B’, Hustlers, Future Stars, Back Circle, Champion Boys, Mocha and Leopold Street.
Over $800,000 in cash prizes and trophies will be up for grabs with the winners set to receive $400 000 and the championship trophy, while second-, third- and fourth-place finishers will take home $200 000, $100 000 and $50 000 respectively, along with trophies.
The other playing dates for the championship are August 31, September 5, 7, 9 with the final set for September 16, at the same venue.

Among the other sponsors on board are: Star Party Rentals, Faye Joseph, Claude Geddes Recreational Sports Club, National Sports Commission, Windjammer International Hotel & Cuisine, Woodpecker Trophies & Sport, Y.K Investments & Pawn Shop, Henry Chase, Jai Signs, Trophy Stall of Bourda Market and John Fernandes Ltd.
The Group stage commences this evening at 19:00hrs with eight scheduled games.
The fixtures are as follows:

Albouystown-B vs North Ruimveldt – 19:00hrs
MBK All-Stars vs Leopold Street – 19:30hrs
Hustlers vs Tiger Bay – 20:00hrs
Albouystown-A vs Showstoppers – 20:30hrs
Gold is Money vs Mocha – 21:00hrs
Future Stars vs Pike Street Sophia – 21:30hrs
Back Circle vs Champion Boys – 22:00hrs
Sparta Boss vs Old Skool Ballers – 22:30hrs