CDHIB basketball team lead 2023 Sozobal season with 14 points from 7 games played
CDHIB are currently leading the 2023 Southern Zone Basketball League (Sozobal) log table with 14 points having won all they 7 matches since the season kicked off on July 8 — sponsored by CDH Investment Bank (CDHIB).
The leaders are followed by Crazy Warriors with 12 points from 7 games while Bricks are third with 10 points from 6 games.
CDHIB are now keen to maintain their unbeaten run when they play Bricks on Friday, September 1 from 6:30pm at KUHeS Sports Complex while Crazy Warriors play MUST Gorillaz at Blantyre Youth Centre on Saturday, September 2.
In the ladies division, Cobbe Ladies are leading the pack with 8 points from 4 games with Kukoma Eagles registering 6 points from 3 games while Mikoko Mystics have 6 points from 4 games played.
Cobbe play MUBAS LadyCats at UNIMA while SPARKS date Eagles on Sunday September at Blantyre Youth Centre.
The teams are also preparing for the CDHIB Money in Bank national tournament scheduled to take place from October 13-16, which is an invitational championship.
Teams qualified automatically by being in the top 3 in their respective leagues in the 2022 season and they are: defending champions Kamuzu Barracks; CDHIB; Bravehearts; Bricks; Crazy Warriors; Central Knights; Moyale and ABC Lions in the men’s category.
The women’s has defending champions Mikoko Mystics; Sparks; Eagles; Bravehearts Ladies; Arkangels; Dynamites; Cobbe Ladies and Katana.
Commenting on the development in a media release, Sozobal chairperson, Raymond Chioko hailed the 2023 season saying it has showcased great talent and electrifying games.
“The season kicked off on July 8 impressively as all the teams appeared well prepared,” he said.
“Since the start, we have watched exciting matches and each weekend reveals encouraging team, play and individual brilliance for both men and ladies.”
The Sozobal men’s division has 10 teams participating while the ladies’ division has 8 teams.
The national championship will be spiced up by the Madala category to be competed by teams of those above 35 years and expected teams include TOP City, Hoops, Entrepreneurs, TNM, MRA, One Acres, Sundayballers among others.
CDH Investment Bank injected K15 million into basketball having been impressed with the professional manner that Sozobal organised its ‘Money-in-the-Bank’ tournament that it supported at K3 million in 2022.
At the presentation of the sponsorship package in Blantyre in April, Chief Credit Officer, Sungani Mkandawire reaffirmed the bank’s commitment towards supporting the league in managing its season as part of its corporate social responsibility “to promote sportsmanship, health and teamwork”.
“As a Bank, we felt compelled to create value through the sponsorship,” he had said. “Basketball as a sport is developing well and it is our hope that the sponsorship will result into further development for basketball in Malawi.
“We would like to see basketball as a sport being played at all levels from primary school to college which will result into a strong national team.”
Sozobal chairperson Chioko said they are also working towards concentrating of uplifting the sport at junior level having been impressed with the performance of Team Malawi during the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Junior Games which the country hosted last year in which Malawi were third.
He acknowledged that Team Malawi was inexperienced compared to basketball powerhouses such as Angola or Mozambique but the juniors’ performance did not disappoint and if empowered, they are bound to match their counterparts.
CDHIB was also applauded by Basketball Association of Malawi for fielding its own teams, while appealing to other stakeholders to join basketball since they “won’t be disappointed with the hype that is associated with it.”
This is not the first time for CDHIB to support sports as in December last year, it sponsored K2 million to Darts Association of Malawi to host its end of year national championship — the DAM Cup in recognition of positive strides that Malawi darts has achieved over the years at international regional level.
In March, CDHIB also sponsored the Malawi Aquatic Union (MAU) with K2.4 million towards the hosting of national swimming championship which were held at African Bible College (ABC) in Lilongwe.
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