admin
Zimpapers Sport
THE Zimbabwe Junior Sables camp has been dealt a major blow following the withdrawal of the duo of Shingi Manyarara and Huntley Masterson from the Barthes Trophy, which kicks off this weekend.
With Zimbabwe Under-20 coach Shaun De Souza expected to announce his 28-man squad tomorrow, the two are the only two names effectively ruled out.
Manyarara could not be released from his French club, Racing 92, while Masterson is currently away at school at Harvard University.
“Shingi Manyarara, who has club commitments in France, won’t be available for the Barthes Trophy but we are still trying to negotiate his release for the Junior World Trophy should we qualify,” said De Souza.
“Huntley Masterson, obviously with university at Harvard, will also miss out.
“Those are the two we had among our seven players we retained from last year’s campaign, and remain the only players unavailable for selection,” he said.
De Souza confirmed the availability of Edward Sigauke and Brendan Jameson, who were released from the Sharks Academy and school respectively, and have since joined camp already.
According to the fixtures released, Zimbabwe kick off their campaign with a cagey tie against Tunisia at Harare Sports Club’s Machinery Exchange on Saturday.
That match kicks off at 4pm.
The tournament gets underway with a match pitting Kenya against Namibia.
Match day two will see Tunisia playing Kenya while regional rivals Zimbabwe and Namibia clash at 4pm.
The tournament will then wrap on April 28 when Namibia play Tunisia at 2pm and Zimbabwe and Kenya clash at 4pm.
All matches will be played at Harare Sports Club.
All three visiting teams are expected to troop in today with the traditional captain’s run scheduled for tomorrow
Online Reporter