Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze-Zimpapers Sport Hub
THE Gems say they are ready for the Malawi challenge as their tour gets underway this afternoon.
Penciled for the Sunrise Sports Club, the Gems development side, Zambezi Eagles, and the men’s side Golden Flyers, will also be part of the fiesta.
Malawi will also field their men’s side, while Botswana have pulled out of the contest.
For years the Gems, who are ranked 13th on World Netball Rankings, have played second fiddle to Malawi. However, they changed that at the African Championships last year when they beat their perennial rivals in Namibia. This afternoon, head coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki will be hoping to once again frustrate the neighbours and continue to write a glowing history of the Gems.
“This is the first time that we are playing Malawi after our historic win last year at the African Championships and we are hoping to win again,” he said.
“We are well aware that friendly games are not really about results but lessons, relations and cultural exchange among other things.
“However, a positive result will go a long way in boosting our confidence because remember we have relative green horns in our team, they still lack the confidence, especially when playing these big teams.” The friendlies will act as preparatory games for the Gems who are set to take part at the Celtic Cup in Scotland between November 26 and 30. Mutsauki added: “It is very important for us to play these highly-ranked sides because it gives us the highly competitive platform that we need to weigh ourselves,” he said.
“So far the preparations have been going on well, no injury scares except for our captain Felisitus Kwangwa who is out currently.
“We have identified two or three rising defenders to fill in her position and I believe the youngsters will step up and prove themselves against Malawi.
“Malawi have one of the strongest attacking third in the region, their shooters are very strong and it will take character for our defenders to be able to stop them.”
Mutsauki notes that these friendlies will be a big character test for the Zimbabwean teams.
“We must be psychologically and tactically disciplined in applying the right strategies in our games,” said Mutsauki.
“The players must be able to stick to instruction, apply themselves correctly which is part of what we have been working on in our sessions.
“Currently I want to believe that all our players are in a proper state, it is very important in games of this magnitude.
“I believe that it is very important at national team level that instructions are transferred by the players into actions so we are ready to look into all this in these games.”
Londile Moyo