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Sports Reporter
THE Nedbank Premier Netball League games are set to resume this Saturday with matches taking place at various venues across the country.
The league is returning after taking a break for the 2023 Netball World Cup held in South Africa, where Zimbabwe finished 13th, recently.
PNL secretary-general Liberty Mhizha confirmed their teams will be back in action this Saturday in the second bubble of the second half of the season.
“We are getting into the second bubble of the second half of the season after enjoying the World Cup break when participants from our various clubs were taking part in the World Cup in South Africa.
“We are regrouping to take on bubble two in five different clusters, that is Zvishavane, Ngezi, Harare, Shamva and Mvurwi.
“We are expecting athletes to bring the best as teams had ample time to regroup, restrategise and re-energise for this upcoming bubble.
“So, basically we are still on, we are raring to go and we are hoping to see netball at its best as it has been in the past few bubbles that we have witnessed,” said Mhizha.
The games are being played in clusters with some teams converging in Harare while others will be in Ngezi, Shamva, Mvurwi and Zvishavane.
Some of the games likely to attract more interest are those that will feature leaders Ngezi Platinum, second-placed Platinum Queens and GreenFuel.
Ngezi Platinum will be playing at home as they host cluster-two games in Mhondoro-Ngezi.
They are up against Rhinos, Mutare City and Zupco. They will be out to collect maxi-mum points.
Zvishavane-based Platinum Queens are also at home for their games in the other cluster. They take on Beitbridge Border, ZDF Queens and Lupane.
The World Cup break was the league’s second break as they were coming from the mid-season break.
Despite the second month-long break, Mhizha said they are within their schedule for the season and is hopeful they will conclude their programme on time.
The league games are scheduled to conclude on November 4.
“There is not going to be much changes to our fixture though we are desirous to hold a Cup (tournament) mid-way before the end of the season.
“We are still hoping and anticipating that our season will close down on the 4th of November with a two-day bubble in Bulawayo at white City and hopefully hold awards at a date yet to be agreed upon.
“It has become a tradition that at the end of the season we award those that would have excelled and true to the fact Nedbank has come through with prize moneys for excellence, so we are still trying to put together a few logistical issues to see to it that the awards do take place at a more appropriate and convenient time,” said Mhizha.
Nedbank unveiled a US$50 000 sponsorship package for PNL in April, for the 2023 season.
Fixtures
Saturday: Filchrist Boarding vs Filchrist ZJC, Filchrist Boarding vs Waterfalls, Filchrist Boarding vs Marondera, Filchrist ZJC vs Waterfalls, Filchrist ZJC vs Marondera, Waterfalls vs Marondera, Ngezi vs Rhinos, Ngezi vs Mutare City, Ngezi vs Zupco, Rhinos vs Mutare City, Rhinos vs Zupco, Mutare City vs Zupco, Stormers vs Harare District, Stormers vs Redwing, Stormers vs Expandable, Harare District vs Redwing, Harare District vs Ex-pandable, Redwing vs Expandable, Harare City vs Mvurwi, Harare City vs City Angels, Mvurwi vs City Angels, Mvurwi vs GreenFuel, City Angels vs GreenFuel, Platinum Queens vs Beitbridge Border, Platinum Queens vs ZDF Queens, Platinum Queens vs Lupane, Beitbridge Border vs ZDF Queens, Beitbridge Border vs Lupane, ZDF Queens vs Lupane.
Online Reporter