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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
PLATINUM Queens extended their dominance in the Premier Netball League when they won the pre-season tournament for the third consecutive year at the Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex on Saturday.
The Zvishavane-based side beat GreenFuel 25-17 in the final.
They had overpowered ZDF Queens 19-13 in the semi-finals as they maintained dominance over the army side. Last year the two teams met in the final and Platinum Queens emerged as the winners.
Platinum Queens first won the PNL pre-season tournament in 2021 when the league was introduced. It was the same story last year and on Saturday, they made it three in a row.
The Simbarashe Mlambo-coached side have won the league title twice and taking into account Saturday’s outcome, they seem to have already sent the warning shots ahead of the league games scheduled to begin on March 11.
Saturday’s tournament attracted 24 teams that were grouped into four pools of six.
The top two teams from each pool advanced to the quarter-finals and Platinum Queens outclassed Beitbridge Boarder Stars 28-2 to book a date with ZDF Queens in the last four. ZDF had dismissed Rhinos 20-8.
GreenFuel beat Expandable 26-6 in the quarter-finals to take on Ngezi who beat Harare City 12-6. They then beat Ngezi 19-17 in a tightly-contested semi-final to reach the final.
But it was Platinum Queens who proved to be the better team of the day as they came out tops.
Mlambo said it is a good sign for the team considering they lost some good players in Lynette Tanhira, who joined ZDF, while the pair of Sharleen Makusha and Hamu Govere joined Glow Petroleum in the Rainbow Netball League.
“I think the team performed very well. I was very happy with how they managed the pressure. When you are the defending champions and you have been winning this pre-season tournament, the pressure is real. The girls were calm and collected; and that worked well for us.
“So I am really happy with their performance . . . It means we are still there with the girls that left, there was a lot of talk about us being unable to compete this year and that Lynette, Tanaka and Hamu were holding the team.
“But well I definitely think that’s not it and the girls proved they are a force to reckon with and they are still going for that title once again. And we would really love to defend it and give everybody a good run for their money,” said Mlambo.
The Platinum Queens coach believes they are ready for the new season.
“I think we are ready for the games. Three weeks (from now), we might also take that opportunity to do one or two other things just to make sure that everybody is gelled up so that we get a bit of variety.
“The playing hours, and the bubble, it really gives a strain on the players. So we just want to be able to manage the girls that we have and the time that we are going to be playing.
“We just have to make sure that we don’t have any injury scares along the way. But so far so good, the girls are raring to go,” said Mlambo. In the third place play-off, ZDF Queens beat Ngezi 18-11.
PNL secretary-general, Liberty Mhizha, said they were impressed with the turnout.
“The turnout was good. It was what we expected. “Based on the performance from the teams, 70 percent of the teams proved that they were prepared for the start of the new season and other teams would have to put in more work to match competition,” said Mhizha.
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