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Brighton Zhawi
The Zimbabwe national Badminton team has begun preparations for the Thomas and Uber Cup preliminaries set for Mauritius next month.
Zimbabwe will be making its maiden appearance at the qualifiers; one of the major competitions on the world badminton calendar.
The African preliminaries will run from February 15-18 in Mauritius before the main competition takes place in China in May.
The Zimbabwe team’s player/coach Paul Kopolo said they are excited by the opportunity to take part in the competition, which will give them exposure on the international scene.
“This is a big tournament and playing in these qualifiers is a great opportunity for our local players,” he said.
“We will obviously go there to compete and we will do our best, but we are aware that winning will be a big challenge because the level of competition is very high,” he said.
Kopolo said preparations are going on well and the team should be ready when the games begin.
“We had our first training last Saturday, it went well and we will name the team soon.
“I am glad we have retained most of the players from the team that won bronze at the Zone VI Games in Zambia in 2014, but there could a few new faces in the ladies team,” he said.
Zimbabwe will bank heavily on the experience of Kopolo, Raffick Alfonso and the twin sisters of Olga and Audrey Matsanura.
The Thomas Cup was first held in 1948-49, and the Uber Cup or Women’s World Team Championships were added for the first time in 1956-7.
The Thomas Cup, taking place every three years, was the BWF’s first major international tournament.
The Uber Cup Finals have been held alongside the men’s competition since 1984, and both take place biennially.
Meanwhile, the local badminton season is scheduled to begin at the end of this month with an Open tournament on the cards.
Online Reporter