Chronicle Editor
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
QUALIFIERS for the annual Zimbabwe Republic Police Commissioner General’s Sports Gala get under way today until Sunday with Bulawayo playing host to three provinces, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Midlands under Southern Region in what promises to be an action-packed weekend for the law enforcement officers.
The other regions are Central Region that will have Harare, Support Unit, Police General Headquarters, Police Protection Unit, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East while Eastern Region has Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Masvingo provinces respectively.
Provinces were put into mini bio-bubble to mitigate the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Athletes will compete in football, volleyball, netball, cricket, rugby, table tennis and pool.
In Bulawayo, football for men will be held at White City Stadium, the same venue for volleyball and netball while cricket will be at Bulawayo Athletics Club and football for women will be at Milton High School.
Hartsfield Rugby grounds plays host to rugby while table tennis is slated for Drill Hall with pool players converging at Millennium Bar at Ross Camp.
According to the draw conducted in the capital, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South will take to the fields first in all disciplines followed by Matabeleland North against Midlands before Matabeleland South engages Matabeleland North. The last three fixtures will have Bulawayo squaring off against their Midlands counterparts, before meeting Matabeleland North. Matabeleland South and Midlands wrap up the fixtures.
Winners of each discipline will proceed to the national finals in Harare next month which is where Team Zimbabwe that will compete at the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation (SARPCCO) Games to be staged in Tanzania will be selected.
The last SARPCCO Games were held in Luanda, Angola in 2019 with Zimbabwe surrendering their four-year dominance of the region to Namibia who were crowned champions having collected 17 gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals respectively.
The last edition saw nine countries, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe taking part.
The SARPCCO Games are meant to complement the already existing regional policing activities such as capacity building and training, workshops as well as bilateral and regional operations.
ZRP CG Sports Gala fixtures
Southern Region
Bulawayo v Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North v Midlands, Matabeleland South v Matabeleland North, Bulawayo v Midlands, Matabeleland North v Bulawayo, Matabeleland South v Midlands,
Central Region
Harare v Mashonaland Central, Support Unit v PPU, PGHQ v Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central v PPU, Harare v PGHQ, Support Unit v Mashonaland West, PPU v PGHQ, Mashonaland Central v Support Unit
Eastern Region
Manicaland v Masvingo, Masvingo v Mashonaland East, Mashonaland East v Manicaland
Semifinals
Winner Central v Winner Eastern, Runner-up Central v Winner Southern
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