Vusumuzi Dube
Innocent Kurira,Sports Reporter
THE Gems will go into their final camp this afternoon as they prepare for the 2023 World Cup which gets underway in Cape Town from 28 July to 6 August.
An 18-member squad will begin camp today with three foreign based players, Felistus Kwangwa who plays in England and the Australian based duo of Joice Takaedza and Nyasha Muakunde expected to join later on.
The squad which will be trimmed to 15, will not break camp and is expected to leave the country on 20 July.
“We will get into camp today and we will have our first training session on Monday. I believe all the players will come into camp ready as they have been playing in various leagues and also they have been part of our training camps leading to this final one,” said Mutsauki.
In the build-up to the global tournament, the first to be hosted in Africa, Nedbank have come on board as the major sponsors of the national team.
The $50 000 sponsorship package which was unveiled at the Stodart Netball Complex in Harare last month, will cater for the team’s playing kit, travel insurance and other expenses.
Zimbabwe will be part of 15 other countries that qualified for the tournament.
After finishing eighth in their maiden World Cup appearance in Liverpool in 2019, the Gems are now targeting a top-four finish, a feat which requires them to push beyond their limits.
Zimbabwe is in Pool A with defending champions Australia, Fiji and Tonga.
Australia, Barbados, England, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda and Wales are some of the teams that will take part.
Spar Zimbabwe partnered with Zimbabwe Netball Association last year before the World Cup qualifiers commenced.
The Gems were last in action in November last year when they finished winless at the SPAR Diamond Challenge played at the Tuks Sports Centre in Pretoria.
— @innocentskizoe
Online Reporter