The wait is finally over as, the second annual Petra Organization/Limacol football tournament kicks off today, with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) battling Mahaica Determinators and Riddim Squad tackling Camptown at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground, Bourda.
The ever-improving GPF unit will start as the favourite in the tournament opener at 18:30hrs against the very physical Mahaica unit.
Under the tutelage of Dwain Babb, the lawmen have grown into a genuine contender in the Georgetown district and will hope the likes of Lerone Charles, Anthio Wallace, Junior Gordon, Quincy Holder, Keshawn Lovell, Kevin Boston and Jermaine Grandison can fire them to the three points.
On the other hand, the Mahaica will be quietly confident of securing a positive result due to their robust nature. Much will be expected from the roster led by Captain Shameer Nazir, Roberts’ brothers, Azumah and Kirk, Abel siblings Eion and Ewart Abel, Travis Charles, Devon Charles, Curtley Adams and Devon Harris.
Meanwhile, traditional rivals Riddim Squad and Camptown will bring the curtain down on the opening night when they faceoff at 20:30hrs.
The Mocha-based unit is one of the tourney’s early contenders, possessing a squad of talented players through their family connections of the Hopes, Stewarts and the Ramsey’s.
For Camptown, the competition provides the opportunity to blood new talent as the Campbellville unit has been in a transitionary period. Their progression in the tournament will depend on the output of veterans Travis Prescod and Joel Bon in conjunction with rising stars Ron Adams and Ozeal Small.
The tournament will resume on Friday with Western Tigers engaging NA United and Santos opposing Ann’s Grove at the GFC ground.
The following day the event will move to the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground in Linden with Milerock battling Northern Rangers and Winners Connection facing off with Grove Hi-Tech.
The final matches of round one on January 29th will pit Uitvlugt against Eagles United and Pouderoyen against Den Amstel at a venue to be announced. The event will be contested in an initial round-robin format, with the top two finishers progressing to the quarterfinal round.
Group-A consists of Milerock, Winners Connection, Grove Hi-Tech and Northern Rangers whilst group-B features Western Tigers, Uitvlugt, Eagles and NA United.
Group-C comprises Santos, Pouderoyen, Den Amstel and Ann’s Grove while group-D contains Guyana Police Force (GPF), Riddim Squad, Camptown and Mahaica Determinators.
Similarly, the winner of each group will receive $100,000 while the respective finishers will pocket $50,000, $30,000 and $20,000 apiece.
Winner of the event will pocket $500,000 and a trophy while the second, third and fourth placed teams will receive $250,000, $125,000 and $75,000 respectively and the corresponding accolade.
To date, Banks DIH Limited under the GT Beer Brand, Trophy Stall and Star Party Rentals are the other companies that have thrown their support behind the championship.
