dyton mupawaenda
Veronica Gwaze-Sports Reporter
AFTER walloping Tanzania 62-17 in a lopsided encounter yesterday at the ongoing World Netball Youth Cup Qualifiers, in Pretoria, South Africa the Zimbabwe National Under-21 team have kept their hopes of making it to the global showcase next year.
With the prestigious World Youth Cup scheduled to take place in Gibraltar at the Tercentenary Sports Hall and Europa Sports Park between September 19 and 28, the Young Gems need to grab one of the three available slots.
If they make it, the Tapiwa Chirenda mentored youngsters will make a second appearance at the global showpiece after their debut in 2017, in Botswana.
The Young Gems opened their qualifiers campaign on a high, overpowering Kenya 49-39 before defeating perennial rivals Zambia 42-37.
They then had to face a huge task against regional powerhouse South Africa to fall to a 30-72 heartbreaking defeat.
With their recovery seemingly taking longer, the Zimbabweans went on to trail by a score to rising giants Namibia in a closely contested match which ended 44-45 on Tuesday.
Getting their groove back, yesterday, they revived their World Cup dream with what appeared to be an easy task against Tanzania taking to the halftime break in a 27-6 lead. The Young Gems would not make it any better for the opponents as they bossed in the defensive end, to deny the rivals the much needed chances of taking shots as the battle ended 62-17.
On fire Goal Defender Nikki Mundeya was recognised as the Player of the Match.
“For the games so far we started off quite well but there were signs that if the games kept coming close we would not get enough resting time and as a result we would pay like we did in the one-point loss at the hands of Namibia,” said Coach Chirenda.
“Things didn’t go exactly as planned and as we would have wanted but the youngsters are playing quite well, South Africa are no easy opponent but we gave them quite a challenge until the last whistle.”
The Young Gems will be resting today before facing old foes Malawi tomorrow in the final first round matches.
Chirenda said his charges still have a very good chance of making into the top four to proceed to the semi-finals and fight for the converted three spots.
As of Wednesday, South Africa sat on top of the seven-teams-log standings with eight points from four matches while Malawi was on position two after amassing six points from three games.
Namibia occupied the third place with four points from three matches while Zimbabwe, in position four, had an equal number of points from three games to be beaten by goal aggregate.
“We are still in a good position, and we are hoping to continue with a good run as we progress,” added Chirenda.
“The competition is tough but we were also keeping up with the race, however, a bit of fatigue from a clogged schedule cost us in the two games (South Africa and Namibia).
“We need to beat Malawi and make it to the last four so that we can fight for a top three finish.
“It is going to be intense competition but we are a strong team from both the attacking and the defensive end, our mid court has speedy young players who have the capacity to control the game.”
Chirenda said his team needs to be wary of playing a pressure game which may result in a lot of unforced errors and wasted chances.
Online Reporter