SIPA Futsal Challenge takes off with a bang
BY ROMULUS HUTA
THE SIPA Futsal Challenge gets off with a bang yesterday at the Multipurpose Hall with the first round of matches.
Six matches were played across Groups A and B, beginning at 10am.
The opener yesterday got underway between Koloale and Vania from Pool A. Koloale were lucky to escape with a narrow 3-2 victory.
In the other Pool A matches, national league champions Marist received a massive 7-2 upset from Kooline while Mataks also defeated KOSSA with the same margin.
In Pool B, Indo-Solo thrashes Henderson Eels with a 9-1 margin and followed by Solympics registering a 7-5 victory over Gantimak while Real Kakamora came away with a 6-3 win against G-Camp.
As the table stands after day one, Kooline, Mataks and Koloale are currently leading Pool A with three points each from wins earned yesterday, respectively.
Indo-Solo, Real Kakamora and Solympics find themselves at the top of Pool B with three points each following their wins.
The futsal challenge is the second part of the 2018 SIPA national league which concluded in June and won by Marist.
Meanwhile, after the pool matches next week, the two top teams from each group will qualify into the semi-finals scheduled for next Thursday.
Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) Futsal Development Officer Jerry Sam was pleased with the good turnout of the first round of matches yesterday.
“Semi finals will be held on Thursday next week. Pool Matches will be this week and final ones will be on Monday next week.
After all pool matches next Monday, teams will have two rest days on Tuesday and Wednesday before the semifinals on Thursday.
“The losers final will be on Friday and the grandfinal on Saturday. After the grandfinal on Saturday is the awards presentation for both the SIPA League and the futsal challenge,” he said.
Jerry, who is also the national head coach for senior futsal side Kurukuru said he is also using the futsal challenge to select potential players for his training squad.
“This is one of the ideas behind this challenge. And that is to look for more potential players for our training squad.”
The futsal challenge will continue today with another six matches at Multipurpose Hall.
See fixtures and points table below.
SIPA FUTSAL CHALLENGE
FIXTURES
Tuesday 6th November – Multipurpose Hall
10am Koloale V G-Camp (Pool A)
11am Indoor-Solo V Mataks (Pool B)
12noon Vania V Kooline (Pool A)
1pm Henderson Eels V Gantimak (Pool B)
2pm Marist V Real Kakamora (Pool A)
3pm Solympics V KOSSA (Pool B)
