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Ellina Mhlanga, Harare Bureau
AS the Africa Netball Championships draw closer, Zimbabwe’s senior team is scheduled to regroup this weekend for a month-long training camp in Harare.
The championships are scheduled to run from June 24 to 30 in Uganda.
Zimbabwe are the holders after emerging winners in 2015 and in March they took part in a tri-nations tournament in Hong Kong as part of their preparations.
They beat the hosts and Malaysia in that tournament to win the trophy and they will go a gear up this weekend when they troop into camp at St Peter’s Primary School in Mbare.
Zimbabwe Netball Association secretary-general, Barbra Rice, said they are out to retain the championship but pointed out they are likely to face stiff competition from Malawi and South Africa who are regarded as the top teams on the continent.
“The team is getting into camp on Sunday the 21st up to departure at St Peter’s Primary School in Mbare. They are supposed to leave on the 22nd of June, so they will be in camp for the whole month.
“We have a strong team but this time it’s going to be a tough competition because most of the netball giants will be at the tournament but Zimbabwe is one of them. The team won gold in Hong Kong.
“We are going to defend our title, that’s our aim. Malawi and South Africa we will compete with them, we beat Uganda last year at Diamond League, so they are not a threat to us,” said Rice.
The championships will be played in a round-robin first, then positional play-offs if less than 10 teams turn up for the event.
But if there are 10 teams they will be divided into two pools of five and the top two from each pool advance to the semi-finals and the winners proceed to the finals.
So far seven countries – South Africa, Malawi, hosts Uganda, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe have confirmed their participation in this year’s edition.
On their return from Hong Kong, coach, Ledwin Dondo indicated she is likely to retain the team she travelled with but will make some additions to her side.
Some of the players that were part of the team include captain Perpetua Siyachitema, Felistas Kwangwa, Victoria Nkomo, Tatenda Dziva, Paidamoyo Tinoza, Pauline Jani, Tafadzwa Mawango, the Under-21 trio of Mercy Mkwadi, Sanele Ncube and Patricia Mauladi.
Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Uganda will also have their Under-21 teams taking part in the World Youth Cup in July.
“We are still approaching the corporate world for sponsorship because we have got two tournaments, which are crucial, these championships and the World Youth Cup,” Rice said.
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