By Rahim Abdul
Blue Eagles Sisters have been crowned champions of the ONE NICO Cup in the Central Region after narrowly defeating Civonets 45-44 at the Area 30 court in Lilongwe on Sunday.
The two teams went head-to-head across all four quarters of the one-hour match, with the final result separated by just a single goal.
Blue Eagles Sisters received a prize of K1 million, while Civonets pocketed K700,000. Young Eagles earned K500,000 for finishing third, MDF Lioness received K400,000, and fifth-placed Vanessa Sisters took home K300,000.
Blue Eagles Sisters, Civonets, and Young Eagles will proceed to the final stage of the competition at the end of August, where they will face nine other teams from the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Regions.
Top teams from the South include Tigresses, Kukoma Diamonds, and Blantyre Tremors, while the best performers from the East are Prison Queens, Genius, and Malawi Navy.
In his remarks, sports analyst Ibrahim Phiri said the narrow goal (basket) margin shows that the league has brought strong competition.
Phiri added that people should expect even more compitition at the national level.
