MAMELODI Sundowns are refusing to relinquish second spot on the Telkom Charity Cup voting charts and are firm favourites to be among the four clubs to participate in this season's opener on August 1.

MAMELODI Sundowns are refusing to relinquish second spot on the Telkom Charity Cup voting charts and are firm favourites to be among the four clubs to participate in this season's opener on August 1.

Though the Brazilians were trailing AmaZulu by a whopping 21446 votes by late last night, Downs are pulling out all the stops to qualify for the tournament billed for Ellis Park Stadium. The Tshwane side was on 38621 votes.

But Orlando Pirates are not making things easy for Sundowns as the Ghost are also voting in large numbers.

Pirates, who were on 30148 votes last night, are also under pressure from arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs, who they led by 1687 votes.

Absa Premiership upstarts Mpumalanga Black Aces were still fifth with 7173 votes and Bloemfontein Celtic sixth with 4424.

The positions of the top six teams have not changed and it now appears that the current top four sides will qualify for the tournament.

AmaZulu should be warned not to rest on their laurels but to continue working hard to avoid losing out as other teams might launch a last-minute rally.

The voting lines close at midnight on July 26 and the organisers are still pleading with people to vote for their favourite teams.

The tournament raises money for charitable organisations across the country.