Nation Bulletin

Handala Upsets Defending New Ghaza Pro League Champions Ghaza City in Penalty Kicks

Handala upset Ghaza City, 1-1 (5-4 penalties), to become the New Ghaza Pro League champions!

By New Ghaza Sports News
04/30/2024 01:41 pm
Updated: 04/30/2024 01:44 pm

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Ghaza City had an even better season this year than their championship inaugural run with a record of 8-1-1. However, this was not enough to upend Handala who had a more improved this season by going 6-2-2, splitting the regular season 1-1 with Ghaza City.

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Handala, home of the professional baseball team of the New Ghaza Sunbirds (OMLB), is a city renowned for its sports fanatics. They are known for their resilience, as illustrated by their name and logo, and perseverance. These two titans went head-to-head twice during the course of the regular season with Ghaza City winning 1-0 earlier in the season and Handala winning 1-0 late in the season. 

How did they get to the finals? The defending champions, Ghaza City, eliminated the same team they did in the inaugural season of the league, Al-Hajar by defeating them on a 3-0 aggregate scoreline (0-0, 3-0). Handala showed shear dominance in the playoffs by completely shutting out the defending runner-ups, Ghaza United, by winning 6-0 on aggregate (2-0, 4-0) and taking that momentum into the finals against the defending champions. 

The finals started with a closely contested 1-0 victory for the underdogs (Handala). Ghaza City attempted to become back-to-back champions in game two but failed to get the 2nd goal of the game which would've sealed the deal. The match then went to penalty kicks where the Handala hopeful rallied the crowd on Ghaza City's final penalty attempt forcing a kick wide left to call themselves the NEW champions after a 5-4 penalty score.

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The Handala faithful are celebrating in full force across city streets after the victory. They hope this good energy rubs off to their baseball counterparts, the Sunbirds, as they begin Season V of the Orbis Major League Baseball (OMLB) league.

 

Final Standings of the Regular Season

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