CONTROVERSY and unprofessional conduct marred the 11th edition of National Elite Pool Association of Zimbabwe (Nepaz) that was held at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo over the weekend.
The competition began late on Saturday afternoon due to a limited turnout of professional players, with only 47 participants registered for the pool extravaganza.
National pool player Timothy “Sakala” Onida defeated Ronald “O’Sullivan” Kazembe 5-4 in the final to win the US$500 prize money.
Kazembe received US$300 as consolation.
Eshca Chimbwanda failed to turn up for the third and fourth play-off match against crowd favourite Malvern “Maluva” Mukonza.
Mukonza was awarded the match 5-0 and took home US$200, while Eshca got US$100 for finishing fourth.
Nepaz chairperson Benjamin Mabugu was dissatisfied by the low turnout and disrespectful attitude at the competition
“The competition was a success and congratulations to Sakala for winning it,” he said.
“However, the participation was modest because we expected many elite players.
“I believe it is because there were so many tournaments played in December alone.”
Mabugu Added: “We had difficulties with the start time since we sought to increase our number to at least 64, but we only had 47, which I believe is the lowest turnout this year.
“We have certain players that do not respect the sport and I believe this needs to be handled as quickly as possible. It will end the sport if nothing is done.”
Mabugu stated that his executive would immediately investigate the match-fixing claims raised in this year’s Nepaz 11th edition.
“There are rumours of match-fixing in this tournament, which led to those walkovers. As executives, we are investigating the situation.We will address the problems appropriately,” he said.
After falling short in the Nevsun Select and The Patriarch pool competitions over the previous two weekends, the 23-year-old Sakala was overjoyed to have finally found his mojo and won the grand prize.
“I am grateful that I took this home. It’s like a miracle for me considering this is my first time taking the Nepaz this year. I’d lost previously, but I quickly recognised that I was a champion.I gained confidence and went on to win this competition, which I am pleased about,” he said.
“There is a lot of potential in the country and I wish that many competitions may be organised, instead of money matches in which players can just choose their rivals.
“With so many tournaments, we can advance in the sport.”