By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –
YOUNGSTER Kundanji Kalengo at the weekend upset tables after beating defending champion Manda Chilambwe to lift the Zambia State Insurance Corporation (ZSIC) Midlands Squash Open title while veteran Sharon Chimfwembe retained women’s crown.
Kalengo ‘collapsed’ to the floor on the court in celebration after seeing Chilambwe hit his ball too low in the final set to claim a 3-2 win and a double over the experienced star having already beaten him in the Judge Lloyd Siame Invitation.
This highly anticipated final at the Lusaka Club was watched among others by Sports Minister Vincent Mwale, Sports Council of Zambia (SCZ) general secretary Innocent Chalabesa and former republican vice-president, Godfrey Miyanda, who is a squash enthusiast and player.
The final was as heated as the euphoria that it came with and Chilambwe’s constant complaints to the referee did not go well with the fans, and when the tight sets ended, Kalengo was justified to feel relieved as he overcame an athletic opponent.
Kalengo took the final with set scores of 11-4, 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, 9-11 to complete a fine tournament and pocketed K5, 000 while second placed Chilambwe received K3, 750.
In the women’s final, Chimfwembe took a routine 3-0 win but it was in the quality of her 18-year-old Monica Chimese that got people in crowds talking. Chimfwembe won 11-3, 11-9, 11-8 and took K4, 000 while Chimese received K2, 750.
Chimese may have lost 3-0 but she took the long-serving Zambian champion through tight last two sets and admitted afterwards that lack of lack of experience failed to get her over the line.
Chimfwembe hailed Chimese for her resilience, saying she wanted to win the match in three straight sets knowing that her fitness was way less than her opponent.
Mwale praised the players for a good game and commended the Zambia State Insurance Corporation (ZSIC) General Insurance for partnering with Zambia Squash Association (ZSA) to sponsor the championship.
ZSA president Norena Chiteba thanked ZSIC for helping in the development of the sports and that her executive will continue to knock on their doors especially with the junior programme that the association is running.
