Why Terekeka won and robbed Jonglei of national wrestling championship
6 min readThe disunity between Bor and Twic communities: Why Terekeke won and robbed Jonglei of championship
By Philip Thon Aleu, Juba, South Sudan
Sunday, May13, 2018 (PW) — In this article, I will analyze why and how Jonglei lost the final to Terekeke, why Twic East wrestlers declined to participate and why Terekeke should expect more victories. There is absolute necessity of unity for Dinka Bor (Jonglei) if they are to overcome the power of Mundari wrestlers. Then I will look forward – making wrestling better organized and beneficial to the young men.
1-Lual Matiop vs Warnyang Awar (Terekeka won)
2-Makorou vs Teke-Agutnyang (Terekeka won)
3-Maguang Aguto vs Madul Guara (Terekeka won)
4-Gongic Achiek vs Nguli (Jonglei won)
5-Malok Akol vs Yawa (Jonglei won)
6-Ajith Majak vs Kamira (draw) as Ajith got dislocated
7-Lueth Akech vs Mayom Jakara (Terekeka won)
8-Pach Majok vs Majaka Twelo (draw)
9-Majur Ayen vs Ladu Makur (draw)
10-Nhial Thuom vs Ahon (draw)
11-Mayen Reech vs Many-pitia (Jonglei won)
12-Chol Akoi vs Luke Damayang (draw).
#TeamTerekeka 4:3 #TeamJonglei
. Why Jonglei state lost?
Jonglei state team were the reigning champions as they entered final but were not the best team in this tournament.
The #TeamJonglei lost primary because #TeamTerekeke was stronger and well organized. There is no question about that. Jonglei wrestlers were slimmer compared to Terekeke counterparts. Body mass is not strength but it’s necessary if you are to lift someone or being not easily thrown away. Second, Terekeke were not interested on who leads but targeted individuals opponents contrary to Jonglei’s. Finally, there were more younger, energetic Terekeke wrestlers compared to few, aged and weak Opponents from Jonglei. For Jonglei to expect a victory, they should have worked on their unity rather than sending half to face a full squat Mundari.
2. Why Twic East wrestlers stayed away?
In the morning of May 12, 2018, I went straight to a hotel where Magot Khot, the lead wrestlers from Twic East and his team was accommodated. The team that Magot led to Juba in mid April had members of former Bor county too. That that morning, only Twic East wrestlers were present. I spoke to Deng-moradong and Thon Mayen and two other gentlemen. Deng declined to be filmed but spoke in camera. Thon Mayen spoke on record. All of them said they were not participating in the final. Thon said a discussion mediated by elders resolved that Bor county wrestler should lead, which Twic East accepted but on condition that he must be a Bor who was with them from the first three matches. The reasoning, Thon said, was that this group were well place to act as a glue between the two extreme end of Twic East and Bor. In other words, the first wrestler should be among Malok Akol, Maguang and Ajith Majak. This was alrighty rejected by Bor county wrestlers who came after two marches and who never participated before. The former suggested Lual Matiop (aka Lual-mawut), a choice the Magot team opposed. That was the reason Twic East wrestlers stayed away. Note that only wrestlers stayed away. There were thousands of spectators from both Bor and Twic cheering #TeamJonglei at Juba stadium.
3. Jonglei state (Dinka Bor) have one team – twelve wrestlers only!!
There is no doubt that former Twic East and former Bor county wrestlers cannot separately face Mundari and expect a win. Twic East have about five wrestlers who are qualified to challenge Mundari. There are seven wrestlers from Bor. A full team is 12 wrestlers without substitutes. That means both Twic and Bor have a vulnerable single team. Mundari have over 20 qualified strong young men. When veered to their side of the stadium, I saw them – calmly seated in a group with their bodies covered in red earth. Their organizers refused taking of photos (which I found weird). So Jonglei aka Dinka Bor have only one choice: to remain a team. With that in mind, disunity and wrangling over pretty issues that ultimately derailed unity was unacceptable.
4. Unity of Jonglei and Terekeke
With the above explanation in number 3, there is no question that Jonglei should unite. It is not a compulsory but necessary; at least if we wanted to reclaim winning trophies. I found it ridiculous that our wrestlers were stuck in “who leads” rather than who will defeat opponents x or y. At the same time, I wanted to congratulate #TeamTerekeke for maintaining that rare quality in wrestling: face the strong man at any position. And that is why I’m not talking about Mundari wrestlers on what they should do. They have already made their community great. #TeamTerekeke should therefore maintain that spirit and expect more trophies as #TeamJonglei put her room in order. All wrestling competition in Juba since 2010 have been won by Dinka Bor but not more. Another significant point, which I and my colleague Piok Aleer Piok empathized during the commentary of the match live on Facebook was that Mundari are in their villages and their young men are eating well. We all know Jonglei state villages are deserted. There is no enough food in slums aka towns of today. So let’s expect more victories for Mundari until Jonglei state leaders and people restore the lost villages.
5. Way forward
As a short term solution, Jonglei state needs to empower coaches by financing them through donations and fundraising locally and abroad. At the moment, our brothers and sisters overseas, instead of being extremists from Bor and Twic, you guys should take this challenge as a sport and invite Magot Khot and Lual, for example, to Australia or U.S. to wrestle there (of course I will voluntarily go to commentate with my friend Piok as we did on May 12 – humor). That will raise money for the coaches and then the Majok Jokrirs, Ajang Kongoors will have authority on wrestlers and control their tempers. Wrestlers, on the other hand, will appreciate their discipline and the financial benefits. (You can’t bite a hand that feeds, goes the saying).
6. Organizing wrestling
There is no doubt that the field was poorly managed and there is a huge task for organizers. I was beaten by a soldier and I was sad. But I am more than 35 years now and my temper has cooled so I let it go. I was not violent like many other members of the audiences but we received unfair treatment from authorities for their poor management. I think that affected their entry fees collection because many people had to break the gate after been brutalized by angry soldiers and police. That must be corrected.
7. Appreciation and commend
I would like to register my heartfelt appreciation to friends on Facebook who motivated me to attend the final wrestling. As I pointed out at point six, I ceased attending wrestling games in 2010 after witnessing mismanagement and mistreatment by authorities. I was relying on others to get results. But I after sharing a Facebook live interview I had with Majur Machar Anyang, it was watched by three thousand people in just 12 hours. I felt obliged to serve those friends. Thank you! The commentary was challenging given poor network connection which was strange because my Zain use to be excellent. Nevertheless, we tried our best with Piok and gave the best we could. There was even one lady who was excited and joined us. As the live streaming was ending, her tongue twisted and she said something funny. That added some salt but we laughted it off.
And this young man, my cousin Piok Aleer Piok aka Aleer David, proved his expertise in predicting likely outcome based on strength and physical fitness of wrestlers. His command of language was extraordinary. Thank you.
@PTA
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