Fireworks sailed high into the sky as the 2010 Telkom Knockout Cup was launched at the Wanderers bowling Club on Monday morning. With that flamboyant display of colourful fireworks, Ziwa Mo En Mo in 2010 officially kicked-off.

It was a rather prestigious event that saw 12 of the Premier League coaches attending the draw. It also saw Ajax Cape Town and defending Telkom Knockout champions? captain, Brett Evans, hand back the beautiful trophy.

In its place Evans was handed a smaller replica to take back to his club. That was then followed by addresses from the PSL?s CEO, Kjetil Siem, and Medium and Large Business Services? Managing Executive, Godfrey Ntoele, who both spoke about the importance of the tournament and the impact it has on the lives of people in the community.

And with the preliminaries out of the way, the draw could finally take place. Everyone sat captivated and on the edge of their seats as they watched Siem and Ntoele draw the names of the teams who would take each other on.

As the draw took place, screams echoed throughout the procedure for some big teams to be drawn against one another. At the end not all were satisfied, but nonetheless there are still definitely some mouth-watering fixtures ahead of us.

In the round of 16 we will be lucky enough to witness a KwaZulu-Natal derby when Maritzburg United take on AmaZulu; the top of the league against the bottom when MP Black Aces take on SuperSport United; a grudge match in the form of Bloemfontein Celtic v Orlando Pirates and much, much more.

?At least we won?t have to send a scout to watch Celtic because we are playing them the week before in our last league game,? joked the Buccaneers coach Ruud Krol following the draw.

In response the Punya Sele Sele?s coach, Owen Da Gama, agreed and added that it could even benefit his side. ?We will be highly motivated to beat Pirates in the league, and if we do manage that then we will already have the edge over them when it comes to the cup game.?

If the thrill of beating another PSL team and possibly picking up a cup trophy was not motivation enough, to the winner of the Telkom Knockout will pick up R4.25 million. ?There is loads of prize money on the line and that will provide enough motivation for the players,? said AmaZulu?s coach Neil Tovey regarding the reward at stake should his team go the distance.

?And when it comes to cup time anything can happen. If you are going to win this competition, you are going to need a bit of luck along the way,? added Ajax?s coach Foppe de Haan.

Luck, however, may not play a big a factor as it normally would. Unlike in previous seasons which saw the competition run over three months, concurrently with the league, this year the Telkom Knockout will take place after the league season ends and will run for four consecutive weeks starting with the first match on the 13th March until the final on the 10th April. The key, then, is to hit a good patch of from now and not worry if the players can maintain a good run over a long period.

The only down side for the teams is that those with Bafana Bafana players in their ranks will miss their stars, who will be away on camp with the national team. ?Without international players the competition will take on a whole different look,? concluded Krol.

With that in mind Santos? coach Bobbie Solomons believes ?the most consistent side will win the Telkom Knockout and it is our jobs as coaches to make sure we find that level of consistency?.

(Home) Ajax Cape Town v Moroka Swallows
(Home) Orlando Pirates v Bloemfontein Celtic
(Home) Bidvest Wits v Jomo Cosmos
(Home) MP Black Aces v SuperSport United
(Home) AmaZulu v Maritzburg United
(Home) Santos v Kaizer Chiefs
(Home) Free State Stars v Mamelodi Sundowns
(Home) Golden Arrows v Platinum Stars