U-20 handball team brace for global show-piece

Sports Reporter

Zimbabwe’s Under-20 handball team are set to depart today for the International Handball Federation (IHF) Challenge Trophy, which is slated for Brazzaville, Congo, between January16 and 20.

While it is not considered ideal to travel a day before the tournament, coach Cephas Mushati remains hopeful of a good outing.

“Yes, I feel it might affect the team in terms of fatigue,” said Mushati.

“Those are long hours of travelling. However, we will try to loosen up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, should we get the chance.

“I feel we might not get enough time to settle in upon our arrival, but the morale in the team is high.”

The team are currently riding on the crest of a wave following their recent conquest at the IHF Trophy Zone VI Games.

“Yes, the win was a major boost to my players, as it gives them a lot of confidence going into the Challenge Trophy,” added the gaffer.

“We are expecting a very good tournament and hope the guys give a good account of themselves against the nations we are going to play against.”

Congo, Rwanda, Guinea, Nigeria and Madagascar will also be taking part.

In their group, the Zimbabwe U-20 team have only previously played against Madagascar in 2018.

“We have only played against Madagascar, and that was back in 2018, but the rest of the teams like Zambia, Rwanda, Guinea and Nigeria are fairly new opponents to us,” he said.

A friendly against Zambia was on the table at one time, but it fell through due to Zimbabwe’s failure to make the trip.

The team had to make do with a long training camp in Chitungwiza.

“We had lined up several friendly matches against Zambia . . . However, funds didn’t permit us to make the trip.

“Preparations have been sound, with the guys really responding well in training.

“I would have loved to have a friendly match with Zambia though, as it would have given me a platform to assess our preparedness as a team.”

Zimbabwe Handball Federation secretary-general Edson Chirowodza appears very confident that enough has been done to ensure the team perform well.

“Felix Manyani was already playing for the youth team, and this adds value to the team,” said Chirowodza.

“We also have two more additions, with Nyasha Mafume coming in for Tapiwa Maramwidze and Felix Manyani replacing Amon Chamude.

“Maramwidze is injured, while Chamude has since gone to university in Zambia.

“Aside from these two additions, the squad remains relatively the same as the Zone VI winning team.

“We are very much confident in these changes since these players had been with us from the beginning and are very familiar with our systems,” he said.