Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
CHAPUNGU Queens underlined their growing credentials emphatically when they rallied from the brink of what looked like a certain defeat to force a 49-49 draw against Harare City in the opening fixture of the Confederation of Southern Africa Netball Association (COSANA) at Sunrise Sports Club this morning.
The regional inter-club tournament is being hosted in Zimbabwe for the first time in more than a decade, with 11 teams from across Southern Africa contesting for supremacy.
And the jamboree couldn’t have started more enticingly than it did with two of the country’s giants facing off in the Group A opener.
It was a see-saw affair with Chapungu controlling the first quarter, which they finished with a one-point advantage (21-20).
It got tighter in the second quarter with the teams going to the halftime break level on 28-28 before Harare City seized control of the proceedings, picking up key turnovers and going five points clear (39-34) at the end of the third quarter.
Chapungu never looked like a team that would claw back into it, with Harare City seemingly managing it well by circulating the ball back and forth.
Then the Airforce of Zimbabwe side suddenly erupted with only four minutes remaining, bulldozing their way through their opponents and eventually getting a leveler through Tafadzwa Matura with only three seconds before the final whistle.
It is an action-packed day with seven matches lined up.
The tournament will run until Sunday.
