Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE Prisons and Correctional Services netball team, Tenax Queens, is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to finish among the top five teams in the 2026 Rainbow Netball League (RANL).
The ZPCS side ended last season in eighth position.
Despite narrowly losing their opening league fixture to Mambas 41-43, Tenax Queens head coach, Naftali Nyanguru, is confident that his team has what it takes to withstand the challenge and achieve its targets this year.
“The competition has developed significantly, with some big teams having already fallen to smaller sides. This indicates that there are no longer any small teams in this league. This year, we hope to improve on last season’s position – a top-five finish will be ideal. We intend to be a force to be reckoned with in netball,” said Naftali.
Powered by the mercurial instincts of goal attack, Monalisa Usvisvo, goal shooter, Chido Nenhunzi, wing attack, Maybe Matsaira and goal defender, Roshlyn Chapeyama, among a galaxy of netball stars, Tenax Queens will be hoping for a change of fortunes in their next bubble.
Meanwhile, log leaders, Hwange Colliery cruised to a comfortable 64-14 triumph over ZRP Bulawayo in a match that saw the golden hand award being handed to the Colliery’s goal scorer, Caren Zulu, while the best player award went to swing attack, Shawntel Maphosa.
The opening round of matches in the Rainbow Netball League saw Glow Petroleum Queens trounce ZRP Vixens 75-22 in a one-sided encounter played in Kwekwe.
That bubble fixture, reduced to a single match following Mthala Queens’ successful request for a postponement, turned out to be a one-sided spectacle that will be debated in netball circles across the country for some time.
The coveted best player of the match award went to the incomparable Margret Mpofu of Glow Petroleum Queens, who was rewarded with a prize of US$20 courtesy of Glow Petroleum Company.
RANL online publication reported that while Ursula Ndlovu’s 70 goals inevitably stole the statistical headlines, it was Mpofu, nicknamed the Minister of Defence, whose immovable presence in the Glow backline made the whole performance possible.
The publication further noted that her reading of the game was exceptional, her interceptions were clinical, and her ability to neutralise the Vixens’ attacking threats from the goal defence position was the tactical cornerstone upon which Glow’s dominant victory was constructed.
Ndlovu, meanwhile, claimed the prestigious golden hand award reserved exclusively for the match’s highest scorer after an extraordinary personal tally of 70 goals across the four quarters.
It was a record-breaking, history-making individual performance that confirmed, beyond any reasonable doubt, why she is regarded as one of the most lethal goal shooters in Zimbabwean club netball today.
