SAFA Cup: Grand final kicks off tomorrow
Published on: Thursday, January 25, 2024
By: GL Oh
David (right) conducting the draw on Wednesday.
Kota Kinabalu: The Grand Final of the 2023 Safa (Sabah Football Association) Cup football tournament will kick off tomorrow (Friday) morning at four separate fields here in Likas.
The 12 teams who qualified for the finals are divided into four groups as announced at the final draw conducted by Safa executive secretary David Wisom at the Safa office here on Wednesday.
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Group B is set to be the toughest group as West Coast zone champions Putatan are drawn together with Lower Interior zone winners Sipitang as well as Tawau.
Both Putatan and Sipitang had a perfect record in the zone competition by winning all their respective matches enroute to the titles.
Another tight affair is also expected in Group C comprising Kota Marudu and Sandakan who won the North West Coast and Sandakan zone titles respectively and West Coast Zone runners-up Penampang.
In Group A, Upper Interior winners Nabawan are drawn with Tongod and Kota Belud while in Group D, Kunak who won the Tawau zone have the company of Kuala Penyu and Keningau. All the opening matches will begin at 7am.
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The first game in Group A to be played at Sukma field A will see Tongod taking on Nabawan, Sipitang against Tawau in Group B at Sukma field B, Kota Marudu versus Kinabatangan at rugby field A in a Group C tie and the Group B match between Keningau and Kuala Penyu at rugby field B.
Four more matches will be played tomorrow afternoon starting at 4pm.
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Nabawan will take on Kota Belud in Group A, Tawau versus Putatan in Group B, Penampang versus Kinabatangan in Group C and Kunak versus Kuala Penyu in Group D.
The final group matches to be held Saturday morning will see Kota Belud versus Tongod, Putatan versus Sipitang, Penampang versus Kota Marudu, Kunak versus Keningau.
Only the winners in each group will advance to the semi-finals which will be held on Sunday afternoon starting at 3.30pm at Sukma field A and B while the final will be held at the Likas Stadium on Sunday at 4pm preceded by the play-off for third/fourth place at 2pm.
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