Darts - Jewel Cup stunner

Harare - In what could be described as one of the stunning moments in the Zimbabwean darts history, little David a dreamer, a herdboy defeated Goliath whilst his trusted and battle hardened brothers ran into the caves whenever Goliath appeared.

The 2015 edition of Jewel Cup had many shockers and surprises than was expected. The first of it all began with the elimination of the defending champions Jewel Arrows, who lost to Kutsaga and Whitehouse in the preliminary stages. In a similar situation to the 2014 soccer World cup when the Spaniards were thumped by the Dutch in the first games and lost out to defending the cup. A similar situation also presents itself in the English premier league were Chelsea have virtually surrendered their title defence after a series of losses from the onset. Now there is this latest of Zimbabwe chevrons losing the ODI to a non-test playing nation! A case of champions going to sleep after their medal haul.

The only darts female team in Harare, ZRP Strikers ladies produced a shocker by eliminating Police A from contention in the preliminary stages. As if that was enough they were 5 playing against a full strength team of 6. They won 23-16 to proceed to the quarter finals where they were put off by Flying Eagles 27-12. ZRP Strikers ladies currently holds the national trophy from National Darts Association of Zimbabwe, Heroes Closed tournament.

As if that was enough, Jewel Arrows the defending champions lost to Kutsaga and Whitehouse bowing out of the tournament before it had begun. After defeating the defending champions, Whitehouse had already written the books that it was going to play the finals with Kutsaga whilst still in the quarter finals and as fate had it they could not progress further as little David stood in their way. After seeing off Blue Jobs in the preliminary stages, ZRP Strikers team composed of mostly young players in their twenties saw off Whitehouse in the quarter finals after a decider after the teams were 18 apiece at the end of the regular game time. Up stepped Felix Mauye against Alvot Tazvitya a losing finalist in the Open singles, Heroes closed tournament held in Zvimba Kutama College in august. Mauye gave Tazvitya no chance taking the game to him and seeing him off in under three minutes!

The semi-finals saw ZRP Strikers play Old Boys Association and the odds favoured the old boys and as fate had it they could not do the extraordinary as the young prevailed over the old. After suffering losses in the first games the young ZRP Strikers outfit picked the tempo and took the game to OBA who crumpled at the last column to lose 20-16.

The second semi-final pitted Flying Eagles against Kutsaga. It was a rematch made in hell as Kutsaga has accounted for Flying Eagles in the league both at home and away. Flying Eagles missing the services of Brian Chenyika, Talent Denhere and Thomas Sungani found the going tough and Makondo succumbed 15-21 to Kutsaga.

The finals pitted ZRP Strikers and Kutsaga and what the league defending champions thought was a stroll in the pack proved otherwise as the game went to the wire. Played in 36 singles ZRP Strikers stood their ground and went toe to toe with Kutsaga until the last column. Captained by Daniel Mavhura ZRP Strikers produced a scintillating performance which proved that there is no pushovers in sports these days. There are no made champions. ZRP Strikers lost 14-22 to Kutsaga.

Speaking after the medals and cup presentation Jewel cup sponsor representative Mr. Steven Mwarindira who stood in for Mr. Meynard Moyo. In his address he said that the sponsor had promised that jewel cup is here to stay until he is dead. He is also considering increasing the sponsorship and sponsoring the league as well if the situation remains the same .Mr. Mwarindira also hinted that other sponsors will becoming onboard in 2016 to partner the sponsorship of Jewel cup and other trophies. Jewel cup is sponsored by Mr. Meynard Moyo to the tune of [$500-00] five hundred dollars. The cup has been there since the early 90s and has become a tradition and hallmark of Harare Darts Association darts annually.

In a time where sponsors are hard to come on board sporting codes in the country, Mr. Meynard Moyo has stood by Harare Darts Association since unflinchingly. All teams in the league which participated got prizes from the first round to the winners. For their efforts of winning the Jewel Cup, Kutsaga got themselves $100[one hundred dollars] prize money, medals and a trophy.