dyton mupawaenda
Ellina Mhlanga-Senior Sports Reporter
HARARE province dominated the Zimbabwe Handball Federation Inter-provincial Championships held over the weekend at the University of Zimbabwe as they emerged tops in both men and women categories.
The tournament attracted teams from seven provinces.
Harare beat Manicaland 22-21 in the men’s category, in a tightly contested match that separated the teams by just a goal.
Harare had beaten Masvingo 36-22 in the semi-finals while Manicaland beat Mashonaland Central 16-15 to reach the final.
The hosts also came tops in the women’s category when defeating Mashonaland West 24-10.
Harare men’s team coach Tafadzwa Madure was full of praise for his side.
“Performance of the team was fantastic. They played really well even though we had few training together working on combinations as the team had players coming from different clubs — Harare City handball club, Manyame, All Tribes, University of Zimbabwe and Tigers handball clubs.
“We were a bit slow paced in the first match of group stages. But we managed to step up all the way to the finals.
“It was a tight contest against the Manicaland team considering we played them in the group stage and we drew, then in the final we had to correct the mistakes and errors we made in the group stages.
“I am happy the team showed brilliant team work on defence and we were precise in our shooting. Manicaland had a brilliant goalkeeper, so we had to be sure when shooting,” said Madure.
Previously most of the tournaments were focusing on juniors while there were limited activities for senior players.
Madure said the tournament could help create more competition provinces as players will have something to look forward to.
“This tournament has a good impact on the development of national teams. I think this is a great platform to select players for the national teams as well.
“This should create more competition within provinces in a way that players should work harder in their teams to be drafted in the provincial teams. It’s a good tournament and I appeal to all stakeholders and corporate sector to support.”
Manicaland coach for both men and women, Alan Mandeya was pleased with the teams’ efforts despite missing out on the top spot. The women’s side finished in third position.
“The performance of Manicaland was good. I was impressed with the way we played and even the performance of our players considering that we had little time to prepare for the tournament and also we had haphazard preparations for us to travel to Harare, to come for the tournament.
“However, the performance was good, coming number three in the ladies’ section where we had only nine players coming to play for the tournament, it’s very remarkable. The girls showed resilience and they showed the fighting spirit that they had.
“They were also hoping that they would catch the eye of the national selectors for the national team.
“Coming to the men’s side they really played well. I am impressed again because when they played Harare in the group stages the match ended in a draw . . . It shows we can fight for honours, we can also play at this stage and I am impressed as a coach,” said Mandeya.
The tournament was also being used to select provisional squads for the national teams. “Overall I would say the tournament was good although we missed one of the powerhouses of handball in Zimbabwe. We wanted to see how Bulawayo play. But overall I was impressed with the level of performance,” Mandeya said.
Other provinces that took part were Mashonaland East and Midlands men, who were disqualified in the semi-finals for failing to pay the affiliation fee.
Online Reporter