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ZIMBABWE volleyball clubs that were competing in the Zone Six Club Championships in Botswana found the going tough with the University of Zimbabwe being the only team that managed to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.The week-long championships started on December 14 and ended on Saturday with clubs from seven countries — Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe – fighting for honours in the men’s and women’s categories.
Zimbabwe was represented by Stanbic Thunder, Black Rhinos and Support Unit in the men’s section while ZRP Raiders, Support Unit and University of Zimbabwe battled it out in the women’s division.
Bulawayo-based ZRP Raiders lost their first match of the championships 0-3 to Mofolofolo but bounced back to beat Bob Cats of Botswana 3-1 and Namibia Defence Forces 3-2 to reach the knockout phase. Veteran coach Vulindlela Moyo believes they lost to a better side.
“The competition was tough; we lost to a better team. The girls could have done better but they lost focus during the course of the game,” said Moyo.
Moyo praised his team’s efforts to reach the knockout phase.
“Bearing in mind that we were playing against the best in Southern Africa, it is an achievement to reach the knockout phase,” he said.
Of the six Zimbabwean clubs that competed only UZ who were competing for the first time in the championships managed to reach the semi-finals but lost 3-0 to Kutlwano of Botswana.
They had earlier on dismissed the Namibian Defence Forces 3-1 to progress to the last four while Kutlwano had beaten another Zimbabwean team Support Unit 3-0 in the other quarter final match.
They were the eventual winners of the tournament in the women’s section. UZ then met Kalavango from Botswana in the third and fourth place play offs and they lost 3-0 to finish on fourth position.
UZ coach, Erasmus Mupukuti said the competition was a good learning experience since they were making their debut appearance at the regional event.
“Our biggest victory was to get there and then we exceeded all our expectations making it to the semis. I am sure it all goes to the dedication and commitment during the preparations and the competition.
“The games are not like club matches but international because those are players from national teams and they come to play for the clubs, they are professional athletes.
“For us it was a good learning experience, it’s our first time to compete. It gives us a very good starting point. We went there not knowing what to expect and now that we have have been there we saw what is needed. We are the national champions in Zimbabwe so we will be going back to represent Zimbabwe next year,” said Mupukuti
Mupukuti said there is a need to take sport seriously if local teams are to match the standard by their counterparts.
“We need to refocus from playing our sport as recreational because if you look at other institutions that were there, they are serious and professional athletes. We don’t have the facilities; we don’t have the equipment and the necessary structures to support the athletes. It’s not like they are unbeatable but with the same amount of resources we can do better,” said Mupukuti
Mupukuti paid to tribute to the technical team and the University of Zimbabwe for supporting the team. In other matches featuring Zimbabwean teams in the men’s category, Support Unit made it to the quarterfinals but they went down to Autoridade of Mozambique 3-2 in a tightly contested match that could have gone either side as they lost 26-24 in the deciding set.
The Mozambican side were the eventual winners of the tournament in the men’s section. Stanbic Thunder and Black Rhinos were booted out of the tournament in the preliminary rounds while ZRP Raiderz lost in the quarterfinals in the women’s section. Zimbabwe Volleyball Association administrator, Sibangani Mashasha said despite the failure by the clubs to win medals they put up a good show.
“The performance was really overwhelming; the standard was higher than last year. We were hoping we will bring a medal for men from Support Unit but they lost to a good side and UZ for women but they lost to a good team as well,” said Sibangani.
The teams arrived back home from Botswana on Monday.
Online Reporter