Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
IT is just a day to go before the African Youth Games come to life and several members of Team Zimbabwe are hopeful of a fruitful outing in Angola.
The Games take off tomorrow with several events lined up for the day including athletics, canoeing, table tennis, beach soccer, indoor soccer, badminton and beach wrestling.
The continental multi-sport show-piece is running until December 20, with athletes aged between 14 and 17 from across Africa taking part.
Zimbabwe are competing in 12 sport codes, and as competition begins tomorrow, they will be up for athletics, karate, badminton and table tennis.
Badminton coach Paul Kopolo is upbeat the pair of Alfred Bonde and Tinotenda Mubaiwa will raise the country’s flag high at the Games.
“Our athletes have gone through good preparation for this event and we are expecting them to come out with a medal in the individual event,” said Kopolo.
“These were the outstanding athletes for the year, and we are proud to have them for this event.
“They participate in the schools league, they also participated in the South African International two years ago, that is Alfred, and Mubaiwa has participated in the Senegal All Africa Championships, where he also won a medal.”
Karate has seven representatives — five girls and two boys.
They will compete in team kata and individual kumite.
One of the karate team coaches Winston Nyanhete is confident of the groundwork they covered ahead of the Games.
“Of the five females, three are doing team kata, that’s unison kata. That is Georgina Mhondera, Makanaka Mulopa and Rumbidzai Makamache. Those are our representatives for the team kata.
“For the individual kumite, for the female, we have got Clarice Runodada and Anita Machuma.
“Bradley Kadzombe and Theophelus Svomho will come in as our male representatives for the individual kumite.
“We have worked in and out to just make sure the athletes are in good shape. This is exam season and a lot of sport codes, especially for this age group, are affected by the clash of the exams and the preparation time.
“So, working with the parents and the schools, we did manage to work around and put in a good programme for preparation for the Games.
“We are expecting good results, all the athletes are raring to go, there is excitement in the camp, and everyone is good to go,” said Nyanhete.
The likes of Machuma were in Namibia for the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games in July, and she believes it gave her an idea of what to expect when going for such Games.
“I am very excited, and I am very ready to experience new faces and to see the environment.
“We have been working very hard. I think we are very ready to tackle whatever we are going to face in Angola.
“I hope to get a lot of medals . . . Namibia I am sure it gave a good idea of what I am going to experience in Angola, although the competition is going to be a bit higher, I won’t be as blank as someone who hasn’t gone to any regional competitions.
“I do think I am prepared,” Machuma said.
Zimbabwe is fielding 82 athletes at the continental Games.
With the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2026, in Dakar, Senegal, for most countries including Zimbabwe, this is an opportunity to identify and prepare their athletes for next year.
