TKO awards nominees announced
While the Telkom Knockout Final is just days away, excitement is also building up around the Telkom Knockout Player Awards.
Sponsors, Telkom, have dangled R750 000 in front of the players incentivizing them to go out there and perform to their best of their ability.
The awards function which takes place next Tuesday is broken down into the following categories:
Goalkeeper of the Tournament – R100 000
Defender of the Tournament – R100 000
Midfielder of the Tournament – R100 000
Top Goalscorer of the Tournament – R150 000
Hat-trick in the final – R100 000
Player of the Tournament – R200 000
The Telkom Knockout Judging panel met before the final to deliberate on possible nominees for the awards.
They came up with the following list of players in line for the various awards:
Goalkeeper of the tournament
Moeneeb Joseph – Orlando Pirates
Greg Etafia – Moroka Swallows
Energy Murambadoro – Bidvest Wits
Defender of the tournament
Siyabonga Sangweni – Orlando Pirates
Lucky Lekgwathi – Orlando Pirates
Derek Spencer – Bidvest Wits
Patrick Phungwayo – Bidvest Wits
Midfielder of the Tournament
Oupa Manyisa – Orlando Pirates
Isaac Chansa – Orlando Pirates
Sifiso Myeni – Bidvest Wits
Asive Langwe – Bidvest Wits
Sibusiso Vilakazi – Bidvest Wits
With the final still to take place, there are numerous contenders for the Top Goalscorer of the tournament award, including Benni McCarthy, Siyabonga Sangweni, Rudolf Bester, Thulasizwe Mbuyane, Oupa Manyisa, Ryan Chapman, Asive Langwe, Sifiso Vilakazi and Sibusiso Vilakazi. The qualifying criteria for the R150 000 prize is scoring 5 goals or more.
The judges will meet again on Saturday evening after the final to conclude the final list of nominees.
Awards panel: Marks Maponyane (Convener), Shadrack Ngema, Clint Roper, Mazola Molefe, Jonty Mark, Sizwe Mabena.