The 6th edition of the GT-Beer ‘Keep Ya Five Alive’ knockout championships will kick-off tonight at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue with five matches.
In the opener at 19:00hrs, Rhythm Stars will match skills with Berbice Guinness of the Streets champion Trafalgar, while the second fixture pits Broad Street against Agricola from 19:45hrs.
In the third clash at 20:30hrs, Kingston will lock horns with Linden unit Swag Entertainment while fellow Linden side NK Ballers matches skill with Sophia at 21:15hrs.
The final fixture of the night will pit Leopold Street against Melanie of East Coast Demerara from 10:00hrs.
The tournament will continue on Saturday at the same venue with another round of group matches.
West Demerara champion Showstoppers will take aim at Buxton Diamond in the opening fixture from 19:00hrs.
In the second clash, East Coast Guinness champion Uprising will lock horns with Guinness of the Streets Linden winner Silver Bullets at 19:45hrs.
The third contest will pit Xtreme Cleaners against Beterverwagting from 20:30hrs, with the fourth counter witnessing Ann’s Grove engaging the always dangerous North East La Penitence unit from 21:15hrs.
In the fifth matchup, a rejuvenated Tiger Bay outfit will lock horns with California Square at 21:15hrs while Tucville battles arch-rival Sparta Boss in the feature contest from 22:45hrs.
On Tuesday, Future Stars will tackle Alpha Warriors and Back Circle oppose Kitty Hustlers.
In the final two matches, Dave & Celena All Stars of Linden will engage the formidable Bent Street while holders Gold is Money tackles Alexander Village.
The 32-team tournament was rescheduled from its initial July 7th start due to the organisers having to adhere to a mandate from the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) on the appearance of Elite League players in the tournament.
According to tournament coordinator Kevin Adonis, “This recent development ordered by the GFF ultimately forced me to reschedule the opening night from last Saturday to this Thursday to ensure that teams have the opportunity to discuss the directive set by the federation in order to avoid any consequence (s) of their decisions.”
He added it was unfortunate that the mandate passed down from the GFF was not part of the initial notification he had received, which would have provided him ample time to initiate discussions with the competing teams and avoid the unfortunate episode.
