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It was initially set for yesterday but Vice President Nkomo had other commitments so the event was pushed to this afternoon at the same venue.
“Logistics have forced us to push the opening day to Friday. The VP will sleep in Bulawayo on Thursday before proceeding to Hwange,” said the local organising committee chief executive officer, Victor Rakabopa.
The Games kicked off on Wednesday, with most sporting disciplines moving on well except for athletics where the first event started almost three hours later.
Meanwhile, Bulawayo men wheelchair tennis team won their first game over last year’s overall winners Midlands 6-0, 6-0 to shoot to the top of the standings after Harare won their game against Masvingo 6-3, 6-1.
The City of Kings and Queens were joint leaders in the intellectually-challenged soccer, with Mashonaland East and surprise packages, Matabeleland South. Host province Matabeleland North anchored the first day’s log standings.
To get the six points, Bulawayo beat Midlands 3-1 in their first game and followed that with a 1- 0 win over rivals Harare while Mashonaland East prevailed 9-0 over Manicaland before giving Matabeleland North a 13-0 hiding.
Matabeleland South recorded stunning 3-0 and 1-0 wins over Harare and Matabeleland North respectively.
In wheelchair basketball, Harare and Bulawayo recorded two wins apiece, Bulawayo beating Matabeleland North 28-8 and Mashonaland Central 38-10 while Harare beat
Mashonaland Central 43-9 and Midlands 66-2 respectively.
Bulawayo were due to play Mashonaland West in the visually-impaired men’s goalball final late yesterday.
Bulawayo prevailed over Masvingo 1-0 in a tightly contested semi-final match that went into extra-time at Lwendulu Hall.
Mashonaland West beat Mashonaland East 2-0, to leave the third place play-off pitting Mashonaland East and Masvingo.
In the women’s category, Midlands beat Masvingo 4-1 while Mashonaland East women took revenge on behalf of their male counterparts, beating Mashonaland West 1-0.
Bulawayo women put up a dismal performance bowing out in the group stages following an 8-2 and 8-3 thrashing by Mashonaland East and Masvingo respectively.
In conventional football for the hearing-impaired, Bulawayo playing in Pool A was again due to meet Masvingo in the semi-finals at Sports Pavillion while Harare had a date with Mashonaland West. Hosts Matabeleland North got knocked out in the group stages.
To get to the semi-finals, Bulawayo drew their first game 0-0 against Mashonaland West before hammering Matabeleland South 4-2 to progress as group winners.
Masvingo lost 1-2 to Manicaland in the first game but won their second match against hosts Matabeleland North, whom they humbled 5-0.
In Pool B, Harare drew their first match 1-1 against Manicaland then went on a rampage in the second match, beating Mashonaland Central 8-0.
In athletics, Midlands province seemed to dominate field events although Bulawayo scooped gold in junior women’s long jump for the intellectually-challenged through Cynthia Ncube who jumped 3,55m.
Midlands got silver when Sithabile Sabiwa lept 3,25m with Mashonaland East settling for bronze following a 3,15m jump by Eunice Garikai.
Unlike in day one where everything was chaotic in athletics, the running of the competition showed a more professional approach with all races starting on time and all going well. Tents for competitors and medical personnel were pitched to protect them from the scorching Hwange heat.
The local community also came up in their numbers to cheer the athletes with the Governor and Resident Minister for Matabeleland North Thokozile Mathuthu watching some of the events.
Governor Mathuthu was last night expected to host a civic reception for dignitaries at Edmund Davies Hall.
This morning there will be a 5km walking race before all other competitions begin, according to the general manager Enock Ngwenya.
Results
Wheelchair basketball
Bulawayo 28, Matabeleland North 8; Matabeleland North 58, Midlands 6, Mashonaland Central 10, Bulawayo 38; Harare 66, Midlands 2
Intellectually-challenged soccer
Pool A: Midlands 1, Bulawayo 3; Masvingo 3, Mashonaland 0; Harare 0, Bulawayo 1; Mashonaland West 1, Midlands 8; Matabeleland South 0, Harare 3
Pool B: Matabeleland South 1, Matabeleland North 0; Mashonaland East 9, Manicaland 0; Manicaland 0, Matabeleland South 3; Matabeleland North 0, Mashonaland East 13.
Hearing-Impaired netball
Matabeleland South 3, Mashonaland West 6; Manicaland 23, Matabeleland North 0; Mashonaland Central 1, Masvingo 42; Harare 14, Manicaland 9; Masvingo 31, Matabeleland North 0; Bulawayo 7, Mashonaland West 12; Midlands 13, Matabeleland South 4; Bulawayo 7, Midlands 12; Mashonaland Central 2, Harare 54.
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