The third edition of Airtel Rising Stars U-17 Youth football championship reaches the semi-finals stage at the national level today and the finals will be played tomorrow at Ubworoherane Stadium, Musanze District in the Northern Province.

The national semi-finals in both the boys’ and girls’ category follow the conclusion of the preliminaries in all the four Provinces and the City of Kigali, which was the last to conclude last weekend.

A total of eight teams, four for the category of boys and another four for girls will play the semi-finals each vying for the ticket to the grand finale scheduled for Sunday.

In the category of boys, the teams that booked semi-final tickets are Inyange Academy from Musanze district, Rusizi United from Rusizi district, Gatsibo Academy from Gatsibo district and Miroplast FC from Kigali.

In girl’s category, White Stars from Rubavu district, Gatagara Centre from Nyanza district, Abarashi Girls from Gatsibo district and Young for hope from the City of Kigali qualified for semi-finals.

Last Sunday, Miroplast FC and Young for Hope won the City Kigali titles after triumphing in their respective finals played at FERWAFA ground.

Gatsibo Academy from the Eastern Province and AS Kigali are the reigning champions of Airtel Rising Stars second edition. However, AS Kigali did not participate in this year’s edition.