adminBrighton Zhawi – Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE netball national team coach Ledwin Dondo is confident that the country will book a maiden ticket to the World Cup at this week’s qualifiers in Botswana.
Dondo is expected to announce her travelling party today ahead of Thursday’s departure for the Africa Netball Championships in Gaborone.
The qualifiers will run from September 14-20.
The best two nations at the championships will join Malawi and South Africa , who have automatic tickets to the World Cup, at the finals to be held in Sydney, Australia next year.
The absence of the perennial campaigners from the qualifying equation has brightened Zimbabwe’s chances of making their maiden appearance at the global netball showpiece.
The national team has been in camp for the past week and Dondo is upbeat about her squad’s chances.
“Our aim is to qualify. We picked some notes from the recent Commonwealth Games; we recorded some matches and hope to learn a few things on the international netball scene.
“Our first week in camp was dominated by fitness training and endurance. We then looked at combinations in all departments,” said Dondo.
Dondo will today trim her squad from 25 to 12 players, with the likes of captain Perpetual Siyachitema, goal attack Miriam Mwangeyi and shooter Clara Gumbo certain to be at the top of the final list.
Zimbabwe finished a disappointing 6th at the previous edition of the games in Malawi, but showed signs of improvements during the invitational Diamond Cup in South Africa last October where they beat rivals Zambia, but lost to the hosts.
Online Reporter