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Drogba wins African player award

Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba has been named the 2006 Caf African Footballer of the Year.
It is the first time Drogba has won the award and, in edging out Samuel Eto'o, he denied Barcelona's Cameroon striker a record fourth-successive award.
Another Chelsea player, Ghana's Michael Essien, finished third.
Drogba, 28, captained his country to the 2006 African Nations Cup final and played at the World Cup finals as well as helping Chelsea win the Premiership.
"It is a great honour to be recognised," Drogba said. "I feel an indescribable joy and it's also a reward for all the sacrifices I have made in the past."
His success comes four days after he scored twice for Chelsea to help them beat Arsenal in the Carling Cup final.
Drogba polled 79 votes in the poll of Africa's 53 national team coaches, ahead of Eto'o with 74 and Essien's 36.
Eto'o had pipped Drogba to the 2005 award by two votes in the closest race in the award's 36-year history, with Essien again third.
But the tables were turned this year and Drogba becomes only the third English-based footballer to win the award after Nwankwo Kanu, then of Arsenal, in 1999 and Senegal's El Hadji Diouf, who was with Liverpool when he took the title in 2002.
Arsenal defenders Emmanuel Eboue and Kolo Toure and Tottenham midfielder Didier Zokora, both Ivory Coast internationals, were named in the 2006 Team of the Year with Chelsea rivals Drogba and Essien the other Premiership stars to feature. Meanwhile, Marseille defender Taye Taiwo was named Young Player of the Year while Ghana won the Team of the Year award.
Egyptian side Ahly were Club of the Year after defending their African Champions League title and their coach Manuel Jose won the Coach of the Year category.
African club competition Player of the Year was midfielder Mohamed Aboutrika, also of Ahly while Nigeria's Cynthia Uwak was Women's Footballer of the Year.

Tesfaye Tola wins 24th Jan-meda event

The 24th edition of the Janmeda international cross-country athletics meeting saw new champions grace the podium while some big names failed to live up to the expectation of the biggest ever crowd at the Janmeda.
Now becoming the most popular venue to produce new national athletics heroes, the annual event brought together 766 athletes from 5 East African nations, 14 regions, and 171 clubs.
Though the absence of Edinburgh and Spain cross-country champion Geletet Burka due to injury to her calf canceled the highly expected show down between her and former world youth cross country champion Meselech Melkamu, the 8km race was impressive on its own. Omedla's Mestwat Tufa, last year's bronze medalist gave Meselech a scare as she stayed with her until the end of the race where Meseret had to deploy her natural sprint finish.
High in confidence following recent international wins, Meselech led the tempo to her advantage after which she went for the race with 200 meters remaining.
Meselech clocked 26:51:71 to retain her gold medal followed by Mestewat Tufa who finished 27:04:08. Wude Ayalew finished third in 27:11:86. Koreni Jelila came fourth followed by Ahaza Kiros. All five have qualified for the coming world cross-country athletics meeting in Mombassa, Kenya.
In the men's 8km race, the showdown was between Mugher cements Ibrahim Jelan and Habtamu Fekadu. Defense Force runner Habtamu led the race until the final 500 meters where he led many to believe that Ibrahim's dream of retaining his title would go in smoke. However, Ibrahim geared up pace of the race right at the end, to win the race in 23:01:20 while Habtamu clocked 23:10:66 to win the silver medal. Demesew Tesega from Saint George took the bronze medal.
World-renowned athletes such as Seleshi Sehen, Tariku Bekele, and reigning champion Abebe Dinkessa, Markos Genete and others graced the 12 km race, promising plenty of action. Tadesse Tola from Prison Guards, the dark horse of the race, club dominated the race from start to finish with just Solomon Tsega there to challenge him. Though Sileshi shadowed Tadesse until the 10 km mark, he dashed for gold with 100 meters to go and win the race in 35:13:21. Solomon finished second in 35:22:53 claiming silver followed by Selashi Sehen for the bronze.
Ketema Negussie from Mugher finished fourth, Chala Lemi of Banks finished fifth, Tariku Bekele sixth, Markos Genete seventh, and Abebe Dinkesa claimed the last spot to book his place in Mombassa.
The women's 6km gold medal went to Suli Utara of Defense Force followed by club mate Emebet Etaa. Suli clocked 20:16:50 while Emebet came in 20:20:41 with Aberu Kebede from prison Guards coming in third in 20:21:32. Defense Force won the club championship with 55 points while Omedla was second with 28 points.

National Olympic side beats Egyptian counter part
Tesfaye's impressive run continues

The Ethiopian Olympic squad, vying for a place in the All Africa Games, defeated its Egyptian counterpart in the first leg qualifying game at the Addis Ababa stadium.
After controversially being appointed as coach of the Olympic team, Tesfaye Fetene has steered his team to a third successive international victory, defying speculation that he would soon taste defeat. The former national team winger took over the team from Diego Garzitto since December.
His international debut was a return leg match against Tanzania, where Ethiopia won had lost 1-0 in Dar Es Salam. However, on the return match at home, Tesfaye's team beat Tanzania 2-0 that saw the side qualify to the next round with an aggregate 2-1 victory.
Tesfaye also steered his team to a 2-0 away first leg victory over Algeria for the 2008 Beijing Olympic qualification campaign. The feat was repeated as Ethiopia beat Egypt in Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian team is just a win away from booking a place in the All African Games. The Olympic side, which comprises of many premier league regular players, appeared for the first leg qualification fixture with 3-5-2 formation, with Salahadin Saaid and Habtamu Mengesha spearheading the attack. With Suleiman Awol leading the defense line, Lemi Etana steering the midfield and Samson Assefa between the goal posts, the Olympic side went into the match with an attack minded game.
The Egyptian team, hailing from a low altitude area saw his team struggling to cope with the pressure, but tried their best to get into the game. The Portuguese coach was in the end forced to say that the Ethiopian team had controlled the whole game.
"I can hardly complain on the weather. The Ethiopian side deserved the win following a superior performance. However, it is not yet the final chapter as we have the return leg in Egypt," said Wingada after the match
Six minutes after Wosenu Maze's rebound from the woodwork, man of the match Lemi Etana found goal poacher Salahadin Suaid who scored the first goal. The visitors, surprised by the early goal retreated into their own half only to display a single goal shot denied by a great Samson save. The home side then embarked on a series of attacks but never scored in the first half.
Andualem Negussie replaced Habtamu Mengesha in midfield after the break and the switch paid off as the Ethiopian side infiltrated the Egyptian defense. While the visitors were left busy concentrating on Andualelm's movement around the goal area, Lemi's roaring low volley from 30 yards away found the back of the net just five minutes before the final whistle. The score line doesn't tell the whole story however, as the Ethiopian side should have scored at least a couple of more goals.
The Ethiopian team will face a tough challenge as the return leg will be in Egypt and that has never been an easy challenge for Ethiopian players. "It really was a fantastic home victory and I am very impressed with the squad's performance. I believe that we have to be careful in the way we approach the return leg," Tesfaye said.

Meseret 2nd in debut road race

As a strong challenger for athlete of the season award, Meseret Defar was true to her form as she finished second in the Puerto Rican 10 km road race.
Dutch Lornah Kiplagat beat Meseret as experience beat determination for once in the case of Meseret. Known for her supremacy in 5000 and 3000 meter races both track and indoor, Meseret finished second in her 10 km road debut race. For the first time in a road race, the Olympic gold medalist's performance among experienced athletes from around the world won great admiration. Kiplagat, currently one of the best road race athletes was the pre race favorite and proved that she is the best in the distance by out running the Olympic champion.
Meseret and Kiplagat left the crowd as soon as they hit the 3 km mark, marking early on that the race would be between the two. However, Meseret could not keep pace with Kiplagat, who decided to stretch 5000-meter record holder. The Dutch turned Kenyan, doubled her pace, making it difficult for Meseret to follow and won the race with no one in sight. Meseret clocked 32:06 minutes to win the silver medal.
The bronze medal went to Zore Elekamesh from Morocco with the other two Ethiopians Dire Tune and Amani Godana finishing fifth and ninth respectively. According to athletics critics, Meseret's performance in winning second place despite the presence of world known athletes, shows that she has the potential of becoming the athlete of the season.
In the men's, race no Ethiopian athlete made into the medal table. Not only the medal table there was no one among the first ten Kenyans. Gebo Burka the only Ethiopian who took part in the race finished 12th. Since many of the known athletes in the 10 km were engaged at the 24th Janmeda annual cross-country athletics meeting, the race was open for neighboring Kenyan athletes.

Pirreli city race set for Sunday

Two weeks after holding the successful Ethiopian highland rally, Ethiopian Motor Association (EMA) has scheduled the seasons second city circuit for the coming Sunday here in city Addis Ababa.
Admired as the best functioning sports association in the country, sport EMA once again struck a huge sponsor ship deal with Pirelli Tyre's sole distributor Tepico Tyre Unit. The deal is that Tepico would cover the whole budget of the season's second city circuit race.
After three years of courting Teplco Tyre, the EMA finally got the business entity to sign a sponsorship deal and even promise to cover at least one race per year.
Thus, the second edition of the city circuit is set to take place with fifteen racecars starting the race at the famous venue - Meskel Square. According to the EMA's Marketing and Public Relation officer Tsega Kumelachew, Sunday's city circuit is taking place with new fever as a record number of fifteen racecars already registered for the event.
Including defending champion, Dawit Teshome with his Auto Bianchi, many who made their names as the best in the sport have lined up for the Millennium's final city circuit occasion. Ernesto Molinari in his Toyota, the Gula Brothers with the famous Green 7up Fiat, Luca Missalidis with his hard to believe ear-deafening noisemaker VW and Vladmiro Masilo in his Toyota Celica, will all appear for the occasion that starts at 8 pm on Sunday morning, and go all the way into the afternoon. The public is invited to be part of the event.
"The association is proud for having Teplco Tyre as a new partner and hopes it stays with us in the long run. Motor sport is really gaining momentum in Ethiopia and we hope it continues that way," Tsega told Capital Sport.

COMMENTARY

Behind Jan-meda's successful organization

I really appreciate the way the Ethiopian Athletics Federation (EEF) organized the 24th edition of Janmeda annual international cross-country championship. The EFF managed to invite foreign athletes from five neighboring nations (Kenya, Djibouti, Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania), bringing the number of athletes to 780, making this year's event the most successful ever.
The organization of the races and time keeping made sure that everyone at the stadium made it home in time for lunch. Not a soul was complaining about the scorching sun because the races were so lively because the organization was perfectly executed.
The early announcement that the winner of every discipline (men's 12 km, female's 8 km, female's 6 km & men's 8km men's races) would book a place in the coming Mombassa world cross country championship propped up the athletes to dig in deep and display a superior performance. That is why, I believe, that every big name athlete took the matter seriously and performed well.
An official from the IAAF told ETV sport reporter Solomon Gebreegziabher how much impressed he was by the organization of the annual occasion as well as the number of youth participants, especially in the women's category. With just a year to go for the African Athletics Championship in Ethiopia, thumbs up for the way the EAF organized the timetable.
The problem however, is in what Dr Woldemeskel Kostere said. "There is a shortage of fresh legs in the junior category,"
I share the doctor's opinion because we haven't seen any new face come to the podium and receive a medal. All pre-race favorites won the first six places in the women's 8km race. Once Gelete's absence was announced, it was clear that Meselech Melkamu would win the race with just Mestwat Tufa of Omedla to challenge her. Mestawot finished third in the same race last year, but finished second this time around.
Wude Ayalew, Coreni Jeila and Ahaza Kiros are all members of the national athletics squad and we already know enough about them to predict that they would make the Mombassa squad. Last year's 12 km champion Abebe Dinkesa, Markos Genete and Tariku Bekele who all claimed fatigue or injury, all booked themselves a place in the squad, thanks to the absence of new blood strong enough to contend even for 8th place.
Seleshi Sehen, who was out of action for eight months due to injury, finished third with the fatigue of the race showing clear on his face. After his win in the 6km race, defending champion Ebrahim Jelan told reporters that he wsa sure he would win the race easily. For any Ethiopian athlete who heard that Kenyan athletes occupied all ten spots in the 10 km race in Puerto Rico and just one Ethiopian finished 12th, should be a scare.
If I am not mistaken, Dr WoldeMeskel has said there are only 168 national athletes, a number so little compared with Kenyan athletes, whose only problem is discovering a killer athlete like Haile Gebreselassie and Kenenisa Bekele. Otherwise, they have so many national athletes in every category who are good enough to run on the international stage.
The number of female Ethiopian athletes may be better as compared with the men's but still Ethiopian athletes are so few in number at the national level. The federation's insistence for Kenenisa's appearance at Mombassa, I fear, is because Ethiopia has no one except him to make sure that that Ethiopia keeps the long tradition of winning cross country gold. I don't think this would help Ethiopian athletics in the long run. Thus, I want to remind the EAF to find as many as possible and train them even harder and better.