– one-day event set for September 5th at Pouderoyen
The Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ National Championship was launched yesterday at Colours Boutique on Robb Street ahead of its commencement on Friday, September 5th, at the Pouderoyen Tarmac, West Demerara.
The launching of the tournament was highlighted by the official draw and announcement of fixtures for the one-night championship. The drawing procedure was conducted by two representatives from Colours Boutique, with the finer details of the process explained before its eventual commencement.
Nine teams, consisting of seven divisional champions, featured in the draw. They were Georgetown champion Laing Avenue and second place finisher North Ruimveldt, West Demerara Champion Ballerz Empire and second place finisher Showstoppers, Essequibo winner All-Stars, Berbice champion East Bank Gunners, Linden winner Silver Bullets, East Coast Demerara winner Hustlers, and Bartica champion.
Upon the conclusion of the draw, Berbice unit East Bank Gunners will tackle Silver Bullets of Linden in the first quarterfinal, with East Bank Demerara side Ballerz Empire tackling Georgetown outfit North Ruimveldt in the second match.
The Mighty Ruler of Bartica was paired against West Demerara powerhouse Showstoppers in the third quarterfinal, with Laing Avenue of Georgetown matching skills with the winner between the All-Stars of Essequibo and East Coast Demerara’s Hustlers, who are pencilled to compete in a playoff match to enter the quarterfinal round.
The eventual winners will progress to the semifinal round. The overall tournament victor will pocket $1,000,000 and the championship trophy, while the runner-up will receive $500,000 and the corresponding accolade. On the other hand, the third and fourth place finishers will receive $350,000 and $200,000 apiece and the corresponding trophy.
Meanwhile, Guinness Brand Executive Lee Baptiste stated that this event will serve to culminate what has been an exciting season, noting that he envisions a highly competitive evening of matches as the event aims to crown a national champion.
He explained, “This is the climax of the season, which is one night at the Pouderoyen Tarmac in West Demerara. We expect excellent competition, as we have many of the top teams in the country. We encourage the teams to play hard and respect the rules. This is Banks DIH’s way of giving back to the community. We want a clean set of matches.”
Lee further said, “We want to thank the communities and the persons that came out and benefited from the event. This is our way of giving back to the communities and players. This event is part of our corporate social responsibility, and we would like to thank Colours Boutique for their continued support in providing the uniforms and balls for each zone and the national championship.”
Compete Fixtures: September 6th
Playoff
18:30hrs: Hustlers (East Coast) vs. All-Stars (Essequibo)
Quarterfinals Fixtures
(1) 19:00hrs: East Bank Gunners (Berbice) vs. Silver Bullets (Linden)
(2) 19:30hrs: Ballers Empire (East Bank Demerara) vs. North Ruimveldt (Georgetown)
(3) 20:00hrs: Might Ruler (Bartica) vs. Showstoppers (West Demerara)
(4) 20:30hrs: Laing Avenue (Georgetown) vs. Playoff Winner
Semifinal Fixtures
(5) 21:00hrs: Winner of 1 vs. Winner of 3
(6) 21:30hrs: Winner of 2 vs. Winner of 4
Third place playoff
(7) 22:00hrs: Loser of 5 vs. Loser of 6
Final
(8) 22:30hrs: Winner of 5 vs. Winner of 6
