Favourites Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC) hockey team lost 2-0 and 3-1 to Hippo Valley in the finals of the Easter Hockey Tournament at Khumalo Hockey Stadium on Sunday.
The competition started on Friday with 10 teams divided into two groups and Hippo Valley brought in two teams from Chiredzi, which had the edge over BAC’s two teams.
In the first match that was played in Group A, BAC beat Enthusiasts from Bulawayo 6-0 and then overcame another Bulawayo side, Queens, 8-2. BAC were on top of the situation in the round-robin stage, riding 2-0 over Hippo Valley and routing Midlands 14-1.
Hippo Valley beat Enthusiasts 1-0, Queens 6-1 and Midlands 10-0. Queens beat Enthusiasts 2-1 with the latter handing Midlands another 10-0 defeat.
Hippo Valley then beat BAC 2-0 in the Group A final.
In Group B, BAC beat BAC Ladies 4-2 before losing 4-1 to Hippo Valley and then beating Queens 6-2 and Harare Ladies 12-1. Hippo Valley drew 2-2 with BAC Ladies, lost 2-6 to Queens and thumped Harare Ladies 8-0.
BAC Ladies beat Queens 2-0 and Harare Ladies 7-1. Harare Ladies then drew 1-1 with Queens, with BAC and Hippo Valley meeting once more in the finals of Group B, which were won by the Chiredzi team 3-1.
The tournament, a traditional competition which was held annually before the Khumalo Hockey Stadium fell apart, resumed this year.
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Matabeleland Hockey Board (MHB) secretary James Watson said the tournament was a precursor to the Matabeleland Hockey League, which is due to start next month after club structures have been set up.
The MHB is on a drive to revive the sport in the region following the sprucing up of the Khumalo hockey Stadium to host the Africa-Olympic hockey qualifiers last September.
