Monrovia – After coming from behind to defeat South Beach Smashers by 140 points to 139 points in 10 overs in the Tally Premier League Season 6 Cricket Tournament championship match played in the ELWA Complex on Sunday in Paynesville. South Beach Smashers have won the competition twice in six editions and have two titles to their name while defeating finalist teams. The 2022/2023 edition’s champions, Monrovia Super Kings, battled first and achieved 140 points in 10 wickets, while South Beach Smashers got 139 points in 15 wickets.
Star Cricket Club, on the other hand, took first place in the third edition, but the COVID-19 Pandemic rendered the fourth edition of the event invalid. As the 2022/2023 edition came to a close, the guest of honor, Deputy Sports Minister G. Andy Quamie, expressed his desire for the government to engage in negotiations with the Tally Premier League’s organizers to increase the number of Liberians who are trained in the sport. Having more Liberians on board who could take over in the future, according to Minister Quamie, will help cricket advance.
The Deputy Sports Minister also used the occasion to thank them and the sponsors, who sacrificed their resources on regular basis to keep the sport alive in the country, adding that, serving as a sponsor in Africa is not easy because the continent is financially challenged.
He noted that cricket is not popular in Liberia like Zimbabwe, or South Africa, and hosts other African Countries with huge numbers of foreigners who love it. Minister Quamie said the sport is new to Liberia, he encouraged the organizers to put in more time as always to keep the game ongoing in the country.
“I think we need to take one step forward with this sport now. We have been talking with Mr. Roopesh Rami over the years as to how we can improve on it in terms of having more Liberians train, he added”.
Minister Quamie congratulated the champions, Monrovia Super Kings who emerged winner, and South Beach Smashers, the defeated finalist, and also praised all teams that participated in the tournament.
The Tally Premier League’s chief organizer, Mr. Roopesh Rami, stated that more Liberians have been interested in the sport over time, but that finding sponsorship to help them train has turned out to be the biggest obstacle.
Michael Lombeh, who won the Best African Player award for the second time in the competition’s history, was also praised by Mr. Rami.
Reported by: Sylvester Tamba
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