Foreign players for Zimbabwe Open

Harare Sports Club.
The five-day event will run from December 13 to 17 with about 80 players expected to compete.

Zambia are expected to send three players – Edgar Kazembe, Nkumbu Chonya and Miriam Zulu – while Botswana will come in with two players, Julius Taulo and James Matewere.
TZ administrator, Cliff Nhokwara, said they have already sent the names of the players who have entered the competition to the selectors for seeding as the preparations gathers momentum.
“Zambia and Botswana have sent in some names for the tournament.

“So far we have over 30 entries for men and over 20 entries for the women’s category.
“We have sent names to the selectors for seeding, we are just making it ahead of time and we will add on the entries that are still coming in.
“It will make life easier for us because some of the selectors are travelling over the weekend. We are hoping to have a draw of 48 in the men’s category and a draw of 32 for women,” said Nhokwara.

Nhokwara said a number of high-profile athletes have confirmed their participation as well as former top players.
“The defending champion Benjamin Lock will be there, Genius Chidzikwe, Mlandeli Ndlela and Martin Dzuwa are some of the top former players we have.

“There are also top junior players such Innocent Mhere.
“In the women’s category Valeria Bhunu will be available to defend her title, we also have the likes of Fadzai Mawisire who used to be one of the best juniors.

“It’s probably one of the best event we have had over the years.
“These are the best players we have currently although we are missing the likes of Mbonisi Ndimande.

“We are expecting the highest quality matches,” said Nhokwara.
The TZ administrator was not certain if the All-Africa Games gold medallist, Takanyi Garan’anga, would be available for the tournament as he had not confirmed his participation as of yesterday.

He arrived in the country on Thursday ahead of the Annual National Sports Awards scheduled for next week Friday in the capital.
NetOne is sponsoring the tournament to the tune of US$18 000.

The winner in the men’s category will pocket US$1 200 while the runner-up will walk away with US$700 and the semi-finalist will get US$400.
For the women’s show, the winner will receive US$1 000 and the runner-up will get US$600 while the semi-finalists get US$350.