The half-marathon had four thousand participants in the 7Km mass race and 700 participants in the children race. The title sponsor TAL Apparel which is one of the manufacturing companies in the Hawassa Industrial Park used the event to engage with the community and encourage their staffs to lead an active and healthy life.
Athletes from the UK, Chili, USA, Kenya, Netherlands and Norway participated in the race.
Athlete Buzunesh Lemma run the second fastest time in the Hawassa women half-marathon finishing the race 1.17.04 in its 6 years history. Winner of the men half marathon athlete Musa Dabo finished the race at a time of 1:03.34. A total of 120 elite men and women athletes took part in the half-marathon.
Hawassa, the regional capital of southern Ethiopia is situated 275km south of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa at an altitude of 1,700m above sea level.
The Tal Hawassa Half Marathon took place in Hawassa
Neged Bank ends up on top of Women’s League first round
With a first round closing away match victory over strong side Hawasa, tile favorites Ethiopia NegedBank finished on top of the Women’s League table. Dire Dawa and their one woman strike force Ayda Usman leads the top scorers’ chart.
With two time defending champions Dedebit FC dispersed and a number of quality talents including play maker Birtukan G/Kristos joining the squad, former champions Neged Bank are leading two points clear of second place Adama. With nine wins and two draws Neged Bank collected 29 points and 13 goals to take control of the driver’s seat.
Senaf Wakuma spearheaded Adama currently the second best team. They are following the leaders from close range. After eight wins and three draws Adama stands taller than the rest boasting 27 points and has managed an average two goals per game. They have scored 22 goals in total.
Crushing Trunesh Dibaba Academy 4-1, Mekelakya’s title contention is hugely alive for it is third in the table in goal differences. Gedeo-Dilla stands fourth with 22 points while Hawassa is sixth, far behind with 16 points.
Thanks to lone striker Ayda Usman, Dire Dawa is sitting mid table with 14 points from four wins and two draws. Of the fifteen goals Dire Dawa scored; eleven are Ayda’s handcrafts. However, their weak defense conceded 15 goals.
Senaf leads the top scorers’ chart with eleven goals followed by Adama’s Senaf Wakuma with nine goals in her name. Hawassa’s duo Nesanet Mena and Merkat Feleke are third and fourth each with six and five goals respectively. After two wins and nine defeats Ethio-Electric and Trunesh Dibaba Academy are in relegation zone each with six and five points respectively.
Moges Tuemay and Dida won Jan Meda Cross Country
Mogos Tuemay and Dera Dida raced to the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, at the 36th Jan Meda Cross Country Championships in Addis Ababa, a competition that served as an Ethiopian selection trial for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships Aarhus 2019.
The relatively unknown Moges produced the biggest upset of the day, beating rising 5000m star Selemon Barega by three seconds over the 10km course, clocking 31:16. Andamlak Belihu, a finalist at 10,000m at the 2017 World Championships and the silver medalist at last year’s African Championships, finished third, crossing the line just behind Barega, clocking 31:19.
Further back, Solomon Berihu was fourth in 31:24 followed by Bonsa Dida who clocked 31:28 to round out the top five.Dida, twice a member of the national team at the World Cross Country Championships, produced a convincing victory in the women’s 10km contest, clocking 35:50, five seconds ahead of Letesenbet Gidey, the U20 winner at the past two World Cross editions. Now 20, Gidey will contest the championships as a senior for the first time.
Further back, Zenebu Fekadu, who is less tested internationally, finished third in 36:18. Hawi Feysa, who was second in the U20 race behind Gidey in Kampala two years ago, was fourth in 36:20 with 20-year-old Tsehay Gemechu, this year’s 10km world leader at 30:15, finishing fifth, in 36:25. Nibret Melak took the men’s U20 8km race in 25:02, beating Tsegaye Kidanu by two seconds. Girmawit Gebregziabher, the 2018 African U20 cross country champion, won the U20 women’s 6km contest in 21:26, six seconds clear of Alemitu Taku.
Good news for relegation threatened Dedebit Fc
Dedebit’s new refreshing attitude is good news for football fans that were lost in a dilemma watching the club which only five years ago won a championship, suddenly lose everything and was faced with possibly fading out of the picture like Dashen Bira did three years ago.
Dedebit finished the first round bottom of the table with a shocking record of one win one draw and twelve defeats conceding 23 goals while scoring only three. It was a nightmare for many who thought the former champions would fade out of the picture.
Suddenly the huge financial setback that shackled the team from participating in the winter transfer market lifted off. Now they are actively taking part in rebuilding the squad with fresh faces. The club’s first move was bringing back former coach Daniel Tsehaye who knows the inside out of the club. He came through the ranks with Dedebit. The backbreaking task of Dedebit’s future now lies on the shoulders of Daniel.
The second huge move is rebuilding the team including obtaining three foreign players. Second spell with the team the attacking mid fielder from Equatorial Guinea Roben Obama is expected to help Dedebit with his long experience at the higher leagues while last season with Mekele Ghanaian striker Nuhu Fuseini is to spearhead Dedebit’s strike force to salvage The Blues from relegation.
The 29 year old Fuseini had firsthand knowledge of Ethiopia Football therefore is expected to play a huge role in “The Save Dedebit” campaign. The 26 year old giant defender Anotonio Abawla is to take full command of Dedebit’s defense that boasts goal keeper Rashid Matwsi and defender Akwer Chamo.
