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Veronica Gwaze
AMID an unclear roadmap resulting from the suspension of Harare Basketball League, Bindura University men’s team – BUSE Panthers – feel short-changed as their hopes of fighting relegation are threatened.
Their predicament is because of the novel coronavirus, which has led to a national lockdown which culminated in suspension of virtually all activities including sports.
The suspension of the HBA league is also likely to affect the National Championships, a contest which usually features the country’s top eight A-league teams battling for gold.
With three games left to the end of the season, BUSE Panthers sat in the relegation zone with 20 points from 15 games — three ahead of log bottom placed Cameo.
Top of the log standings are Harare City Hornets with 34 points — a point ahead of JBC but two ahead of third placed Raiders.
And Bindura University Deputy Sports Director, Tinashe Munarwo, who is also the team manager believes his charges stand a chance of survival if they are given a chance to complete their fixtures.
Considering that on their last three games, the Panthers picked consistent wins, Munarwo says in the event that the league does not continue, demotion would be unfair to them.
He believes his team had gained the much-needed momentum that would see them survive in the A-league.
“First, relegation has never crossed our minds because we know we are a very strong team with talented and dedicated youngsters,” he says.
Had it not been for some unfortunate incidents that his side encountered at the BUSE campus earlier, affecting their training, the team could have been among the top teams.
The gymnasium and equipment at the campus were gutted by fire, affecting the team’s preparations for games.
Later, as fuel shortages loomed large, BUSE Panthers who play their home games in Harare were also affected, failing to travel in order to fulfil some of their fixtures hence results of their games were awarded to their competitors.
“For the record, we lost only one game when we won promotion into the A-league last year, which speaks volumes of our team’s capabilities.
“The results from our last four games clearly show that we had gotten our momentum back.
“I feel we need the chance to play all the remaining games, hopefully Covid-19 clears soon enough,” he says.
Bindura and other universities were also set to battle it out at the Zimbabwe University Sports Association and Zimbabwe Tertiary Institutions Sports Union (ZTISU) games before everything was postponed to later dates.
After finishing off as champions at the ZTISU games last year, BUSE Panthers had hopes of defending their title this year.
“We were deeply affected. We could have defended our ZUSA title and we were also eyeing gold at the ZTISU. In fact, I believe we are currently the best men’s basketball team in Zimbabwe tertiary sport,” asserts Munarwo.
“The Covid-19 situation has impacted negatively on our performance, based on the principle of reversibility in exercise, which implies that whatever you gain through exercise you are bound to lose it through idleness.”
HBA spokesperson, Carlos Munda, says if Covid-19 does not subside anytime soon, the association will be forced to conclude the season based on the current log standings.
However, this will mean that no teams will either be demoted or promoted in the league.
“If the situation does not normalise soon, we will be forced to follow a no relegation, no promotion route, which obviously will be a bitter pill for those who hoped to be promoted from the B-league.
“Our hands are tied and the congress will have to decide on the best way forward as this also affects the National Championships.
“There were only three games left and those who were fighting relegation may feel that the last games would save them so we have to consider all that,” explains Munda.
Online Reporter