Basketball Union of Zimbabwe national championships get underway

BASKETBALL Union of Zimbabwe (Buz) president Joe Mujuru says it’s all systems go ahead of the national club championships which get underway at Regina Mundi High School in Gweru this afternoon.

The championships will run till Sunday with the top basketball-playing teams in the country battling for national top honours.

Mujuru says they have brought in some officials from outside the country to show the high magnitude of this competition.

“As Buz, we are rearing to go. We are expecting to host an exciting and highly competitive tournament.

We have a few officials coming from our neighbouring countries namely South Africa and Botswana to take charge of matches and that is how big this competition is.

“In terms of representation, this is the best format we have had over the years. We have six active leagues in Zimbabwe which are Harare, Bulawayo, Manicaland, Midlands and those are the provinces that have provided the teams,” said Mujuru.

Buz has introduced a new format for the annual national club championships.

According to the new format, in the men’s category, automatic qualification was awarded to the top four Harare Basketball Association (HBA) teams and the top two teams from the Bulawayo Basketball Association (BBA).

A province has to have at least four teams participating in their provincial league, to be considered for this national league.

It follows therefore that Mashonaland East, West, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South do not meet these requirements and will not be taking part.

The men’s pool for the national league will have 10 teams, with the women’s having eight teams.
HBA hosts both champions in this case. JBC men and UZ Stars women are the defending champions.

Bulawayo is represented in the men’s category by Lakers Talenvision and Mavericks while in the women’s division, they are represented by Lakers Talenvision together with Bulawayo City Towers.

Lakers Talenvision won both the men and women’s league titles in Bulawayo.

Day 1 Fixtures
Men
JBC v Bond Tigers, Mercenaries v Bond Tigers, Lakers Talenvision v Meceneries, Lakers Talen Vision v Acardia Bucs, Arcadia Bucs v JBC
Women
UZ Sparks v Bulawayo City Towers, Blades v UZ Sparks, Premiero v Vixens, Vixens v Lakers Mzansi, Primero v Mutare Heat.
-@innocentskizoe.