Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze in NAIROBI, Kenya
IT has been a long and anxious wait, but the Zimbabwe senior netball team finally begin their audacious bid for a third successive World Cup dance with a date against Botswana this afternoon in Nairobi, Kenya.
Zimbabwe and eight other African nations will be in action in the tournament which doubles as the African Championships and also runs concurrently with the Men’s Africa Cup.
Initially, the tournament was penciled for 10 women’s teams to fight for the two available World Cup slots before Eswatini pulled out.
However, of the nine competing nations, Uganda and South Africa are more interested in the Africa Cup having already qualified for the World Cup through World Rankings.
The global showcase is penciled for Sydney, Australia, next year with the Gems aiming to make a third straight appearance in the prestigious global competition.
Speaking during their final training session in Nairobi yesterday, coach Tatenda Shinya said preparations have gone according to plan and the mood in camp is upbeat, with players eager to get the business done.
“We are now ready, preparations have been going on well and today (yesterday) we are just doing the final touches so that we know what we want to do when stepping into the court,” he said.
The Nedbank-sponsored Gems have been in camp for a month under a new technical set-up led by Technical Advisor Fred Mugerwa, the respected Ugandan mentor credited with transforming the She Cranes into a continental powerhouse.
His arrival introduced a possession-based flair into their already exciting philosophy and some renewed belief in a squad that Crucially, Zimbabwe head into the qualifiers with a clean bill of health.
The coach confirmed that all players are available for selection.
Shinya acknowledges that the rookies have blended well with the old guard, bringing confidence in the team.
In turn, this has created a positive selection headache for the technical team.
“Everyone is available for selection and the pressure is on us as coaches to come up with the first twelve because everyone is doing the needful,” Shinya said.
Having started their qualifying bid months ago with international friendlies against Kenya and Malawi, the Gems feel that they are in good shape when they face some nations like South Africa who were at the recent Commonwealth games. Also based on their rise in the past year on the World Netball rankings where they jumped from position 13 to 11 the Gems come into the tournament as a threat to many opponents.
They, however, insist that they do not feel the pressure that comes with huge expectations.
“We cannot say we have pressure but we just need to take each and every game seriously and to respect every opponent,” he said.
“We need to play our cards right and then create consistency that is needed for us to prevail…we have to be focused and work as a team, everything will fall into place.”
Tactically, Zimbabwe have gone back to basics in the build-up, with emphasis on team defence, midcourt transition and shooting options.
The coach said the Gems need to defend as a unit to be able to restrict their opponents.
“We have worked on team defence not just as an independent department but general team defence where we expect everyone from the goal shooter to the goalkeeper to provide a block.
“Since we started camp, we note that there is a lot of improvement in that area and our defensive side seems to be the strongest part of our team which is good for us.”
In the midcourt, the focus has been on movement and creation of space to ensure quick, clean ball progression into the shooting third.
“We have also worked on the midcourt so that we can create enough space for our ball to move in the right direction while creating space for the shooters and it seems to be working well.
“In attack, the team has been boosted by multiple options in the shooting circle, with different combinations giving the technical team flexibility depending on opponents.
“We have so many options in the shooting circle with everyone giving enough opportunities for the team to claim victory which is good for us,” added Shinya.
He also revealed that there was intense competition for places in the matchday side.
“Everyone is committed and they are eager to play and we are happy with that because having competition in the team makes work easier for us as coaches,” he said.
“It is now on us as the technical team to come up with the best possible lineup that can give us the victory and make us go to the World Cup.”
“Depth will be crucial for us because we are playing high-intensity games in a short space of time against the continent’s best, including traditional powerhouses South Africa and Uganda who are expected to pose the toughest test in the later rounds.
“It is very important to have a very good depth of players and everyone showing that they want to compete,’’ he said.
