SOFTBALL-loving fans around Guyana are expected to throng the Uitvlugt Community Centre ground on Sunday, when action in the inaugural Digital Technology-sponsored ‘Chow Pow’ 10/10 softball tournament bowls off at that venue.

Four teams in male and female categories, namely Wolf’s Warriors, Speedboat XI, Recharge XI and Superstars XI (male) and 4R Lioness, Mike’s Wellwoman, Trophy Stall Angels and Regal Champs (female) will be on show.
Wolf’s Warriors, who will be led by skipper Amrit ‘Rocky’ Jairam, who has a big-game temperament but is yet to make an impact in this tournament, will go up against Speedboat XI in one of the male semifinals, expected to be emotional for fans of both teams.
To get this far in the tournament, Wolf’s Warriors, former Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company 10/10 softball champions, defeated Superstars XI, Farm XI and Trophy Stall in their preliminary round matches.
Jairam and Azad Azeez will lead the batting, while Diaram Persaud and Devenand Persaud will shoulder the responsibilities for the bowling, having so far destroyed their team’s opposition with ease.
On the other hand, Speedboat, who defeated the highly favoured Regal XI in their last preliminary match and have a large following, will hope to continue where they left off, with the hope of advancing to the final.
They will depend heavily on the technically-correct Greg Singh and the exciting Safraz Esau to score heavily, with Esau coming back to lead their bowling, since he is labelled the top all-rounder in this format of the game across Guyana.
In the other semifinal, giant-killers Recharge XI who top Group B and hail from Parika will be hoping to continue the good work they started and make a name for themselves as one of the top teams in the country.
With that in mind, they will be looking to Komal Singh who can perform with the bat and Ramdial Shamlall with the ball, to get past a Superstars XI lineup that includes the likes of Marvin Bobb, who is a genuine all-rounder in the top bracket.
In the female category the likes of Shemaine Campbelle and Ruth George will make 4R Lioness XI firm favourites to score heavily to take the game away from their opponents Trophy Stall Angels, whose batting will hinge around Campbelle’s female West Indies teammate June Ogle-Thomas.
The other female semifinal pits Mike’s Wellwoman who will want to dominate as they have very experienced players, against a much younger Regal Champs outfit, who are determined to succeed in a tournament where their male counterparts have failed.
Lots of giveaways will be offered at the venue, compliments of the various sponsors. There will also be off-the-field games, which to date have left the spectators in awe and wanting more.
The tournament is being organised by Yolo Entertainment and Advertisement Inc. and is being administered by the Guyana Softball League.
Sponsorship for the tournament has been forthcoming from Digital Technology; Jialing; Giftland OfficeMax; Elegance Jewellery and Pawnshop; NTN 89.1 Radio and Banks DIH.
The sponsors themselves have contributed tremendously to the success of the tournament to date. A raffle with a top prize of one motorcycle along with jewellery, HD TV and other gifts will be up for grabs.