*Kutwano in the house…But can they stop the cops?
* Thrills and spills expected in Vollyball’s Golden Cup finals
Following a month of high-flying action, the Golden Cup climaxes on Saturday (25 November) with a straight shootout between volleyball’s ‘old guard’ and its ‘new sheriffs’.
Cup final day pits former powerhouse, Kutlwano against the sport’s most consistent side of recent years, Police VI in both the men’s and women’s showpiece games.
Unbeaten in the tournament so far, although Kutlwano ladies go into the final as slight underdogs, they enjoyed a confidence-boosting 3-1 victory over the cops in the group stages.
Coach Opelo Popo’s troops will also have revenge on their mind, as it was Police who knocked them out of last month’s BVF Cup in the semi-finals, sent packing after a ruthless 3-0 thrashing.
Despite being very much a team in transition, following an exodus of high profile players to rival outfits, Popo feels they are still the team everyone wants to beat.
“There seems to have a lot of motivation when it comes to us hence we always have to be at our best throughout the games. It’s a good achievement on our side to have come this far with both teams [men and women]. It’s a sign of improvement especially looking at the fact that we are rebuilding. We are on the transition stage on the ladies team and that is why we are throwing the young players into these tough games so that they have the feel of what it’s all about,” said Popo, whose ladies have recent experience of beating Police in a final, having swept Ditaugadi aside 3-0 at the 2022 Return to Play tournament.
Confident that on their day Kutlwano are a match for anybody, the coach continued, “These are the days to get back to our rightful place: up where we belong. But we will take one step at a time; it is not going to be an easy game for either side.”
Similarly, in the opposite dug-out, the Cops coach, Shimaka Ngwanaotsile said he expects a close match.
“Our team is getting better with each tournament we play because we take everything serious. We make sure that each player improves their skills of play and we train for our opponents looking at their capabilities,” he said.
“Coaching ladies is not easy: it needs time, patience and loyalty. On each day you have to show them the importance of team work and they should also know the importance of training every day. This season we don’t have pool of players, some of our players did not turn up for training when we returned from pre-season due to family matters, but I’m hopeful that next year they will be back,” Ngwanaotsile told Voice Sport.
In the men’s final, Big House have a chance to heal the heartache of last month’s BVF Cup, where they fell short against BDF VI in the final. Kutlwano gained instant retribution on the soldiers, edging last week’s semi 3-1 to book a place in tomorrow’s final.
It’s also personal for Police, who were sent crashing out of the BVF Cup by Kutlawno at the quarter-final stage.
With payback an underlying sub-plot in both finals, the battle for glory is set to be explosive.
The action starts at 10am with the 3rd/4th, which pits Kalavango against BDF in both the men’s and women’s competitions. All games will be held at Institute of Health Sciences (HIS) in Molepolole.
