Women’s basketball team to play at tri-nations tourney

week as part of their preparations for the All-Africa Games in September.
The team is scheduled to leave for Johannesburg today where they will link up with their head coach, Ronald Garura, and some of the foreign-based players. The tournament will start on Friday and end on Sunday with Mauritius, Zimbabwe and the hosts taking part. The women’s team qualified for the All-Africa Games in January when they finished second in a four-team group in the qualifiers staged in South Africa and are not taking chances ahead of the main event set for Mozambique.
National teams’ general manager, Shinga Magede, said they will be using the tournament as part of their preparations for the All-Africa Games and have called in new players into the team.
“This is a preparatory platform for the All-Africa Games. This is not the usual team as there are newcomers in the side.
“There are experienced players like Patience Chinhoyi and Rachel Makoni who did not play in the Zone VI who have been called back into the team. The coach wants to assess their fitness level,” said Magede.
Some of the new players called into the team are Natalie Pike, Pretty Tinarwo, Nobukhosi Ndlovu and Geraldine Chibonda while Fadzai Mabasa, who captained the team in the qualifiers, has been dropped from the side.
Magede said the tournament was key to their preparations as they brace to compete with some of Africa’s best teams.
“We have to prepare for Mozambique and Angola. We met them in South Africa and we gave them a torrid time although they beat us.
“What we are doing is to bridge the gap between us and the regional giants. The tournament is good for us because we are going to meet Mauritius – an opponent we know nothing about – and it gives us the platform to assess if we can quickly adjust,” said Magede.
Team
Margret Magwaro, Helena Nyagato, Patience Chanhoyi, Sibongile Mkandla, Charity Mucucuti, Nobukhosi Ndlovu, Sharon Chamwarura, Dorcas Marondera, Pretty Tinarwo, Geraldine Chibonda, Margret Kanyimo, Natalie Pike, Charity Chigumba (captain), Rachel Makoni, Isobel Tengende.