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Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe senior national netball team, the Gems are making good progress as they tune-up for the Celtic Cup International Series to be staged in Scotland next month.
The series is split into two with the first part set to be a tri-nations world ranking games running in Glasgow from November 1-6.
It will feature Zimbabwe, Scotland, and Wales while the second segment of the contest will see the Gems, Welsh Feathers, Scottish Thistles, and Northern Ireland Warriors battling it out for the Celtic Cup in Glasgow from November 7-10.
This will be Zimbabwe’s first international tournament outside Africa, other than the World Cup, and the Gems are putting in meticulous work in their preparations.
There are 21 players in camp and the coaches will trim that number to the final 15 who will be unveiled at a ceremony to be held in the coming few days.
The Ropafadzo Mutsauki girls are shaping up and yesterday they engaged in their first friendly game against Nedbank Premier Netball League leaders ZDF Queens.
They will play the national senior men’s side, the Golden Gems in another sparring at their base in Harare this morning.
With Mutsauki expressing satisfaction in the manner with which the preparations have been panning out technically, the management team led by Agnes Chiroodza is also content with the welfare issues surrounding the girls.
“So far so good and it’s looking promising ahead of the tour to the UK,” Mutsauki said.
“The girls are adapting to the methods very well and it’s very encouraging. Physically, I am happy with their condition but we need to maintain that shape and improve on other aspects as well.
“Technically, it’s also good. I am impressed although you can never reach a point where you would say I am satisfied 100 percent as a coach.
“We keep on pushing and hoping that by the time we leave, we will have attained really good levels of the game.
“The idea is to go out there and be able to compete against those teams who are all ranked better than us. We see this as an ideal platform to showcase ourselves and be able to gauge ourselves as a netballing nation.”
The UK tour will also work as a preparatory phase for the 2027 World Cup to be held in Australia.
Team manager Agnes Chiroodza said the girls are being well-catered for in camp and their motivation is well-up.
“The girls are very happy and the conditions of the camp are quite favourable. The environment allows them to fully relax and focus on their game,” said Chiroodza.
“The preparations have been going on well and in terms of welfare, I am really happy.”
Online Reporter