On a day of excitement and under the watch of a packed stadium of fans and dignitaries, defending women’s champions Orange Club of Kenya and men’s champions Eastern Company Club of Egypt came out tops after 9 days of fantastic and competitive hockey. Orange proved their dominance in the women’s competition in recent years making it 5 championships in a row with victory over old campaigners GRA (formerly known as CEPS) of Ghana. The match was fiercely contested but it was the Kenyans who had the extra edge tactically, technically and physically to claim the spoils with a 2-0 win. Orange made sure of a record 10 championships out of 20 since the inception of the women’s competition in 1996. GRA, who boast of a good number of the Ghana National Women’s hockey team, put up a spirited fight but that was not enough to overcome the strength, speed and agility of the Orange ladies. The Bronze medal match was won by Kada Queens of Nigeria who fought back from 2 goals down to beat compatriots and former champions Heartlands 4-2. Ghana Police Women placed 5th beating Sharkia 6-2, while Sliders of Kenya came in 7th after Sharkia of Egypt beating Wananchi of Uganda 3-0. Dar Ladies of Tanzania condemned Weatherhead of Uganda to the bottom of the placings beating them 1-0 to place 9th. In the men’s competition, looked to have started a new dynasty taking over from compatriots Sharkia with the successful defence of their title. When many thought the Egyptian dominance of the 28 year old competition was about to be broken due to losses inflicted on both Sharkia and Eastern in the Group stages, Eastern picked themselves up to pull through to the semi-finals. Again, when the thronging fans and media pundits thought the much fancied homesters Butali Warriors were going to finally push the Egyptian opposite aside, Eastern held their own and dispatched the Warriors in a tense penalty shootout after 70 minutes of thrilling hockey which ended in a 2-2 stalemate. Eastern Company needed to overcome another Kenyan opposition to retain their title after Kenya Police saw off Ghana Police in the clash of the Policemen. The Kenyan Police made light work of their Ghanaian opponents brushing them aside with a 4-1 victory. The stage was thus set for an exciting men’s final and in front of a packed and cheering stadium, the match lived up to its billing. After 70 minutes of a thrilling encounter which ended goalless, the shootout was to determine the champions. Eastern missed one attempt at goal and lead 3-2 at the 4th shoot out for both teams. Police however failed to convert their 5th and final shootout when Eastern goalie pulled of a save. Eastern celebrated to the disappointment of the packed stadium of hopeful Kenyan fans. Butali Warriors put in a good effort to soothe the pain of the home fans by winning the bronze, beating debutants Ghana Police 3-0. Record championship winners Sharkia, finished the competition in a very unfamiliar distant 5th position beating Exchequers 3-2 in a tight contest. Niger Flickers of Nigeria came in 7th beating Weatherhead of Uganda 8-0 in the classification match. Wananchi of Uganda placed 9th and bottom of the classifications. For many who have followed the ACCC over the years, they believe the level of hockey exhibited points to the beginning of a new era where the dominance of Sharkia ends and others take over. The thrills of the competition brought to the fore that although Eastern retained their crown, it was achieved against a very tight opposition which resulted in a one game loss during the Group stages. Some individual awards were handed out to outstanding performers courtesy of sponsors Hockey Farm of Ghana and Kenya. In the women’s competition, Aya Mahmoud of Sharkia Ladies won the best goalie after she stood solid for a very improved Sharkia team. The top scorer was jointly won by Elizabeth Opoku of GRA Ghana and Wangechi Mwangi Jaqueline of Orange Kenya with 9 goals each. In the men’s competition, Shehata Elrazek Farahat of Eastern won the best goalie while Emmanuel Ankomah of Exchequers of Ghana won the top scorer with 8 goals to his credit.

RESULTS OF FINAL DAY MATCHES PLAYED TODAY15TH JANUARY 2017 SRL TEAM COUNTRY M/W SCORES VS TEAM COUNTRY M/W SCORES 1 2 3 4 HEARTLAND GHA POLICE ORANGE EASTERN NIG GHA KEN EGY W M W M 2 0 2 3   KADA QUEENS BUTALI WARR GRA KEN. POLICE NIG KEN GHA KEN W M W M 4 3 0 2   Kada Queens beat Heartland 4-2 to take the 3rd position with Heartland ranking 4th Butali Warriors of Kenya beat Ghana Police 3-0 in the men’s division to rank 3rd while Ghana POLICE took the 4th position. The finals of the women’s match was between Orange Telkom club of Kenya and Ghana Rev. Auth. of Ghana. However the match ended 2-0 in favour of Orange Telkon of Kenya thus earning them the 1st spot on the rankings in the tournament with GRA of Ghana taking the 2nd position. The final match of the day was between Kenya Police (M) and Eastern Company Club of Egypt. Eastern Company emerged winners after beating Kenya Police 3-2 on penalties WOMEN 1ST ORANGE TELKOM OF KENYA 2ND GHANA REVENUE AUTHORITY 3RD KADA QUEENS OF NIGERIA   MEN 1ST EASTERN COMPANY OF EGYPT 2ND KENYA POLICE 3RD BUTALI WARRIORS OF KENYA

Defending champions Orange made a big splash into the women’s finals with a sound 7-0 thrashing of former champions Heartlands of Nigeria. Orange dominated all aspects of the game from the blowing of the starting whistle to the sound of the ending hooter. The well-oiled Orange machinery, combining a good mix of youthful agility and strategic experience of players, played constructive hockey for 70 minutes. Heartlands were no pushovers, but they simply did not have an antidote to the fast passing game of the Kenyans who look good to retain their title. Heartlands will face compatriots Kada Queens to determine who puts the Bronze Medals around their necks on the flight back home. GRA of Ghana, bounced back from their late deflation in their previous match to another Nigerian side, to notch a 1-0 victory over Kada Queens. The match failed to provide the excitement the thronging fans had anticipated but the result was satisfying for the visibly exhausted GRA Ladies who have a day of rest before the final match on Sunday. The finalist in the men’s competition will be determined tomorrow in what is anticipated to be a busy schedule. Before then, Sharkia and Ghana Police will battle for 4th and 5th place in the women’s competition while Exchequers will seek to get back at a visibly wounded Sharkia team in the men’s classification match for 4th and 5th positions. It then gets more interesting later in the afternoon as Butali Warriors of Kenya ‘pick their spears’ to do battle with the defending champions Eastern Company of Egypt in what promises to be fierce contest. After that, in the coolness of nightfall, comes the clash of the Policemen from Kenya and Ghana with the anticipation of fireworks that will light up the skies above the City Park area. Both clubs have played some really good hockey and set the stage for a mouthwatering encounter that the loyal fans should not miss.