Davis Cup team confident

Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S Davis Cup team non-playing captain, Martin Dzuwa, is upbeat about his team’s chances ahead of the start of the Group III tournament in Egypt on Monday. The team that will represent the country at the tournament, which will run in Cairo from September 8-13, includes Mark Fynn, Takanyi Garanganga, Tinotenda Chanakira, Benjamin Lock and Dzuwa.

They will be seeking promotion into the Euro-Africa Group Two in a tournament that will feature 11 other countries – Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Congo, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria and Rwanda.

Only the top two teams will get promoted and there are high hopes the team will make it into the Euro-Africa Group Two considering that some of the top countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia will not be competing.

Dzuwa said although they are likely to face stiff competition from Algeria and Madagascar they had better chances of qualifying compared to last year.

“I think so far everything is in place and Mark is already in Egypt. It’s just that everybody is coming from where they were playing. They have been playing Futures and Challenges which is a good preparation for the team.

“With the rankings of our guys we will be seeded and our chances will be higher than last year. There will be tough teams like Madagascar and Algeria but this year must be our year.

“We should take each game as it comes and come first in our group then go for the play-offs. If we do win that then we will qualify,” said Dzuwa.

Last year Zimbabwe were represented by Dzuwa as the playing captain, Chanakira, Fynn and Garanganga.
Dzuwa said they were grateful to Old Mutual who last month came on board to support the team making it possible to have all the players needed for this tournament.

“This year we got help from Old Mutual and everything is in place. It’s much better than last year, TZ did well. It can be better but I think they have tried.

“We have three days to work as a team and strategise how best we can come first in our group,” Dzuwa said.
The teams will be divided into two groups of six during a draw to be conducted on Sunday night. The top two teams in each group will then clash in the play-offs with the best two getting promotion.