By McLloyd Kudzingo
The prestigious Castel Challenge Cup got underway in Lilongwe after a stunning opening ceremony featuring a very entertaining ceremonial match between Silver Strikers and FCB Nyasa Big Bullets.
Silvers’ Uchizi Vunga was the hero of the day after scoring a brace to assist his team beat Bullets in a historical 5-goal thriller played at the Bingu National Stadium (BNS).
The central bankers scored their first goal just some seconds before half time through Tathedwa Willard.
Both sides started very well in the second half but it was Silver Strikers who got their second goal in the 55th minute through Uchizi Vunga.
Precious Phiri pulled one back for the People’s team to keep them back in the game with a beautiful finish after a lapse in Silver’s defence.
Hassan Kajoke leveled the scores with a beautiful finish in the 81st minute but the joy was short leaved as Vunga restored Silver’s lead just a minute later with a simple finish after beating an offside trap by Bullets.
Castel Malawi unveiled the K1 billion three-year sponsorship for Castel Challenge Cup with an aim of uplifting sports in the country.
For this year alone, Castel is pumping in over K320 million towards the cup.
The national champion will receive K50 million while the runners-up will get K25 million.
The two semi-finalists will walk away with MK10 million each while four quarter-finalists will get K5 million each.
The competition will start at district level where 31 district champions will receive MK750,000 each while 17 teams that will qualify from the regional level will get K1 million each.
