By FRANCIS XAVIER
KOTA KINABALU: Defending champions Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu are among the four teams that have already booked their berths in the final round of the Safa Cup football tournament.
They clinched their ticket after winning the West Coast Zone qualifying tournament that ended here on Tuesday.
They won all their three battles against their respective opponents, namely Putatan, Papar and Penampang.
They opened their campaign by edging Putatan 2-0, where Mohd Faqrurazi Ahmad and Mohd Yazid Rashid scored the goals for their side.
In the second game, they also registered a 2-0 win over Papar with Mohd Zulhijam scoring a double.
In their final game, Kota Kinabalu blanked Penampang 2-0.
Mohd Faqrurazi and Mohd Zulhijam were the scorers. The other matches saw Penampang edge Papar 2-1. They fought back from a goal down in the first half where Mohd Iqhbal Kassim put Papar in the lead with his 26th minute strike.
But Penampang replied with two goals after the break where Hairy Safwan helped them drew level in the 61st minute before Mohd Badrul Affendy scored the winner two minutes later.
Unfortunately, Penampang failed to maintain their winning run after being edged 1-0 by Putatan in their next game with Mohd Zulhairi Haris netting the solitary goal of the match in the 45th minute.
Penampang concluded their challenge with a defeat to Kota Kinabalu. The match between Papar and Putatan ended in a seven-goal thriller where Putatan were the 5-2 winners. Sipitang are also through into the final round.
They qualified from Interior Lower Zone that involved three teams. They drew one-all with Membakut before edging Beaufort 2-1.
The match between Beaufort and Membakut ended one-all. Kota Belud and Kinabatangan have also booked their tickets to the final.
Kota Belud qualified from Nabalu Zone where they got the better of Tuaran, Tamparuli and hosts Ranau. As for Kinabatangan, they won the Sandakan Zone where they got the better of hosts Sandakan, Beluran, Telupid and Tongod.
Another four zones will play the qualifying round from Friday until Sunday.
The four zones are North Zone (Kudat/host, Kota Marudu, Pitas and Matunggong), Tawau Zone (Tawau/host, Kunak, Lahad Datu and Semporna), Interior Central (Labuan/host, Menumbok and Kuala Penyu) and Interior Upper (Keningau/host, Tenom, Nabawan and Tambunan).
For the record, the final round will be held from November 19-24.
