Senior netball squad leaves for Botswana

Ngqabutho Moyo Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe senior netball team is leaving today to participate in the African Netball World Cup qualifiers to be held in Botswana. Competition runs from September 14 to 21 as teams seek to qualify for the World Cup finals which are held every four years and features the top 16 teams from around the globe.

A crucial two slots have been reserved for Africa in which Zimbabwe has to get one to be part of the top 16 teams in the world.
Leticia Chipandu the Zimbabwe Netball Association president, said that the team would depart from their camp venue for Botswana early in the morning by road and expect to be in Botswana by the end of the day.

Zimbabwe are ranked 26th in the world and will face Tanzania, who are ranked number 14 by the International Federation of Netball Associations and are the third high-ranked African team followed by hosts Botswana who are ranked number 16 and Zimbabwe.

Chipandu said they are optimistic of winning to book a ticket to Australia for the 2015 Netball World Cup finals which would improve their world rankings.

“We are ready to play and the team is in good form, hopefully we will be one of the teams to qualify,” said Chipandu.
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania will compete for the berth to the finals from this African group.

Meanwhile, in the Bulawayo Province Netball League games are expected to resume after their one-month mid season break.
Bulawayo Netball Association secretary-general Takonana Nsala confirmed that all league games will be resuming this weekend and was looking forward to an exciting second half of the season.

“All league games will be resuming this weekend and we are looking forward to a competitive, exciting second half of the season,” said Nsala.
The secretary-general appealed to the corporate world for assistance in sponsorship as the league has been running without a sponsor ever since it was launched.

“We are appealing for assistance from the corporate world, as our league has been running without sponsorship since we started which is a major challenge for our teams,” said Nsala.