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Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO’S senior women and boys’ Under-18 teams won gold in the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe’s (BUZ) inter-provincial championships that ended in Masvingo on Sunday.
The boys’ Under-18 spearheaded by the national team’s trio of Davison Chivero, Ryan Mhlanga and Norman Chimukanda beat Harare 33-23 in the final, while the senior women’s team overcame Manicaland 32-25 to lift the title.
Both the Bulawayo senior men’s team and the girls’ Under-18 settled for silver in their respective categories after the men lost 15-34 to perennial rivals Harare and the girls also went down 26-37 to the same opponents.
Bulawayo Basketball Association president for youth development Charmaine Chirinda, who is also the girls’ Under-18 manager, heaped praise on the youngsters.
“The future looks bright for Bulawayo basketball and it was a nice experience for our junior players. They played well and that both the boys and the girls managed to make it to the final shows that we are on the right track in terms of junior development. We’re proud of our youngsters and now the challenge is to keep them involved in the sport when they are done with secondary schooling,” said Chirinda.
Bulawayo, Harare, Midlands, Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Mashonaland West and the hosts Masvingo took part in the finals.
Results
Semi-finals
Under-18 Boys: Harare 54-27 Manicaland, Mashonaland East 39-52 Bulawayo
Under-18 Girls: Harare 32-22 Manicaland, Bulawayo 25-19 Masvingo
Senior Men: Manicaland 42-62 Harare, Bulawayo 49-31 Midlands
Senior Women: Harare 19- 28 Bulawayo, Manicaland 36-26 Masvingo
Finals
Under-18 Boys: Harare 23-33 Bulawayo
Under-18 Girls: Harare 37-26 Bulawayo
Senior Men: Bulawayo 15-34 Harare
Senior Women: Bulawayo 32-25 Manicaland
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