Netsanet Gudeta gave a portrayal of someone who had been supremely confident of getting the gold medal at the post-race press conference for the IAAF/Trinidad Alfonso World Half Marathon Championships Valencia 2018 but sometimes a peek behind the curtains of the puppet show is required, followed by a quiet word with the man who pulls the strings.
It’s probably not exactly how Gudeta’s Italian manager Gianni Demadonna would really like to be described but having guided her career since she first came to international attention when winning the Great Ethiopian Run in 2013, he was able to provide another perspective on the Ethiopian’s stunning performance in Valencia on Saturday.
It was an outing that ended with her not only winning her first global title but also improving the women’s-only race half marathon world record by 14 seconds to 1:06:11.
What he revealed was that the championships were not even part of her plans until barely a month ago, despite her finishing sixth and fourth at the last two editions and standing on the podium having led the Ethiopian to team silver medals on both occasions, and certainly the world record was not on anybody’s radar.
She has missed out on global championships on the track in the last three years, finishing sixth in the Ethiopian 10,000m championships in 2015, fourth over the same distance at the 2016 Olympic trials and then had just one outing on the track last year when she finished third in the national championships 5000m but wasn’t picked for London.
However, regardless of where and when Netsanet next races, after Valencia she will hear the announcer proclaim her as “world champion and world record holder” as she is introduced to the crowd.

Arguably the best women footballer in the country Birtukan G/Kiristos was recalled to Ethiopian Women’s national side Lucy ahead of Wednesday’s big away clash against Libya for the 2018 CAF Women African Cup of Nations first round qualification match.
Twenty national teams play in two leg first round qualification fixtures, the winners will join the four teams who have a bye to the second round qualification matches. Seven teams that get through the second round qualification will join Ghana which qualified automatically as hosts.
Though Birtukan’s absence from the initial selection called for an avalanche from fans over head coach Selam Zeray, it is unlucky that her team mate’s sudden injury on Tuesday gave way to Birtukan’s return to the Lucy camp. The most experienced play maker and Lucy skipper Birtukan’s addition to the squad is likely to give a moral boosting to the team that is bound to Libya via Egypt today.
The twenty five player squad “Lucy” has been in camp since 13th March. They have been intensely preparing, including games against men’s youth sides. Except for three friendly matches against Men’s Youth teams including the Youth Academy, there haven’t been any exhibitions. “Selam could do nothing about organizing an international friendly and the Federation is nowhere around to support it,” suggested a coach who claims to be close to the boss.   “When it comes to Lucy’s preparation it is always a half-baked commitment from the Football Federation,” he added.
With the first leg match taking place on Wednesday the 4th, the return leg is scheduled for the tenth of April, 2018. Lucy are the favorites to go past the first qualification round.

African Volleyball Clubs’ Cup final debutant Ethiopian Wolayta Dicha has been in high swing at the Cairo Abdulah bin Faisal hall since Monday. The record 12 time defending champion Al-Ahly is favored to retain the title.
The 17th edition has a record number of participants bringing together 24 sides from 13 countries. Egypt is represented by four teams while Cameroon and Congo each boasts three teams. Uganda, Benin, Kenya and Libya have each thrown -in two while Ethiopia, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Seychelles and Zimbabwe are represented by one team each.
Ethiopian flag bearer Wolayta Dicha is drawn in group (D) along with El-Gaish of Egypt, Cameroon’s Port, Uganda’s Kampala City, Kenyan GSU and Olympique of Algeria with the winner and runner up to go through the knock out quarter final stage.
In the group’s opening match Wolayta played Kenya’s most experienced side Gru. They lost 3-0 with the score board showing (25-16), (24-26), (25-17) and (25-15) at the final whistle. The second group match against Ugandan Kampala on Thursday was considered one of the highly contested showdowns with Wolayta coming from two down only to lose in the decisive final match. It was a two hour marathon five setter 3-2 defeat with a (25-23), (25-20), (23-25), (21-25) and (17-15) score line. Now after losing two in a row, Wolayta’s progress to the knock-out quarter final stage appears diminished and group favorites El-Gaish and GSU are likely to join the last eight.
The hosts Al-Ahly have won the highest number of titles with twelve followed by Tunisian side CS Sefaxian with six and Zamalek of Egypt with five.

Seventeen foreign players did not play in the Ethiopian Premier League second round opening fixtures over the week end. The only two sides that used all their foreign footballers are newly promoted Mekele and Jimma AbaJifar, each fielding four.
Despite a hard earned 1-0 away victory over Sidama Bunna, Ethiopia Bunna supporters were unhappy with two of the foreign players stranded on the reserve bench while the newly signed Boban Zirintusa was nowhere to be seen. The Nigerian Samuel Sannumi’s single strike and goalie Harrison Hesu’s big effort saved the visitors in a nail biting 1-0 win. Where are those big name foreigners?  Supporters lauded after the match.
The same thing was true for 1-0 away winners Fasil which shelved three of its five players. Philip Dawzi, Sundau Mutuku and Uganda Hamis Kiza. A miserable and unkind own goal from goalie Zewdu Mesfin gave Fasil a narrow win over Welwalo, which also parked Adengo Richmond on the bench.
In miserable form Saint George returned from Diredawa after a goal less draw. Diredawa had two of their three foreign players in the field. The defending champion Saint George has six foreign footballers on their roster out of which only three have appeared in the lineup. In addition the foreign head coach leads a team that stands at 5th in the league table.
With two foreign players in the rank home side Adama crushed visitors Woldya 3-1. None of Woldya’s four foreign footballers were in the starting line-up but two were on the reserve bench. Hawassa used Sohoho Mensa in goal and parked Laurence Larte at the side line. Bottom of the table Ethio-Electric fielded two of their five foreign footballers yet returned home after a 3-1 demolition at the hands of Mekelakya.
Despite fielding three of their four imported players with one praying at the reserve bench, league leaders Dedebit lost 1-0 to home side Wolayta Dicha a side that boasts Jaco Arafat the only foreigner. This shows that lining-up foreign players does not mean winning the match. But the big question is how come there are many foreign footballers earning six digit salaries blocking the chances of local talents could get away with such privileges.