By RONALD CHAWE  –

CHONGO Mulenga and Martha Kalandanya were crowned winners of the Copperbelt Closed Badminton Championships in the men and women singles in a tournament played at Power’s Sparks Hall in Kitwe. The one-day event played on Sunday attracted 51 players and was being used as a preparatory event for the upcoming Yang Youming Chinese Ambassador’s tournament. To take the men’s title, Chongo beat his younger brother Kalombo 2-0 in the final with set-scores of 21-17, 22-20 following a 2-0 semi-final win over Timothy Kafunda. Kalombo reached the final after edging Charles Kalonde 2-1 with scores of 19-21, 21-6, 21-16. In the women’s category, Kalandanya took the crown after a straight forward 2-0 final win over Anna Navile with set-scores of 21-10, 21-12 which came after another 2-0 semi-final win over Belinda Musonda. For his win, Chomba Mulenga received K600 while Kalombo walked away with K500 with the ladies winner Kalandanya pocketing K400 and Navile getting K300. The men’s doubles category saw the Mulenga brothers’ team up to defeat Dalitso Banda and Marvin Chisala 21-19, 21-15 in the final which came after a semi-final win over Roderick Mwansa and Owen Mukuka. They collected K500 for their win while the pair of Banda and Chisala received K400 while the women doubles did not take place. Badminton Zambia (ZB) general secretary Kingsley Mulenga commended the players who took part in the championship but was not happy with the low number of women who participated in the championship.