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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe senior national netball team, the Gems, need to work on their physical fitness as the countdown to the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup continues.
The World Cup will be held in July in Liverpool, England and it’s exactly seven weeks before the Zimbabwean girls get onto the court in their maiden World Cup appearance.
The Gems’ skipper Perpetual Siyachitema told Chronicle Sport yesterday that physical fitness was paramount heading into the tournament.
“We need to be extra fit by going to the gym because all of our opponents are physically fit,” said Siyachitema.
She said her side was also disadvantaged by height, as almost all their opponents are very tall and they’d have to devise a strategy to counter that.
“We have a height challenge; our defenders are short, we are facing very tall opponents so we need to work extra hard in our defence of the mid court, otherwise the team is gelling slowly but surely getting into shape for the tournament,” said Siyachitema.
The Gems, who were in South Africa recently where they played two international friendly matches against President Smileys as well as a men’s side, have been busy with preparatory matches.
They were also in Uganda where they played a number of matches, with coach Lloyd Makunde saying they noted a number of areas that need to be worked on ahead of the finals.
Online Reporter