Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE senior netball team coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki was left impressed by her team as they managed to beat Barbados 67-34 in a friendly match played at the CT Military Base yesterday.
The result followed the Gems 36-64 defeat to England on Sunday.
Zimbabwe continue with their preparations for the start of the 2023 World Cup with two more friendlies against Scotland and Wales today.
“Right now, l am happy with the team. They are doing well. I can safely say so far so good. We have not had any injuries, the team is ready for the start of the games.
“I hope the team will start producing better results compared to what we have done in the warm up matches. Overally, the team is doing well,” said Mutsauki.
She will be leading the Gems to the World Cup for the first time.
Mutsauki took over from Lloyd Makunde who took the first Zimbabwe team to its debut global competition.
Since taking over, Mutsauki led the team to a bronze medal finish at the Africa Netball World Cup qualifiers. Zimbabwe will be heading to their second Netball World Cup.
Their first appearance was at the most recent edition in 2019 held in Liverpool. The Gems finished in eighth place overall.
The Gems will kick -off their World Cup campaign with a clash against Australia on Friday.
The Australian Diamonds have been part of the global competition since it was established in 1963 when it was still known as the World Tournament.
The Diamonds have won 11 world titles and finished second four times and are the favourites in this pool.
Their most recent gold medal finish was on home soil in the 2015 edition held in Sydney.
In the following edition held in Liverpool, England in 2019, the team was yet again in the final where they faced rivals New Zealand in a tightly contested match that they lost in the dying seconds 52-51.
The Diamonds are the most successful country in the Netball World Cup history.
The group also has Fiji whom Zimbabwe play in their second group game before wrapping up their pool ties against Tonga.
-@innocentskizoe
Online Reporter