Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze, [email protected]
ZIMBABWE senior women netball coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki is confident that the Gems are in good shape to make it to the 2027 Netball World Cup scheduled for Australia, making a third successive appearance.
This comes after an impressive outing by their development side Zambezi Eagles at the ongoing Telkom Netball League at Ellis Park, South Africa.
The Eagles side, headed by Mutsauki played seven games in the prestigious competition’s Power Week Two emerging as winners in four of the fixtures while they lost the other three.
Nicole Muzanenhamo won two Player of the Match recognitions while Prudence Sibanda and Perisinevi Tabviroona also bagged an accolade each.
The side was made up of Gems and development project players who are meant to be promoted into the senior team in the near future.
Muzanenhamo, Sibanda, Tanaka Makusha and Anifa Luya are part of the Gems outfit expected to do duty in the World Cup Qualifiers slated for September in Kenya.
Mutsauki used the TNL to give his charges a platform to gauge themselves and stay competitive while also handing developing players a chance to prove themselves for promotion into the senior team.
“We are impressed with how the team performed at the tournament, this is a platform which brings together South Africa’s best so winning four out of seven is a good performance,” said Mutsauki.
“The team proved to be competitive on a big stage which is exactly what we were looking for; the exposure is very important as we prepare for the World Cup Qualifiers.
“However, there are some areas that we still need to work on; our defence still has a lot of work in terms of depth and technique so we will continue to look into the department.”
Since the departure of former Gems captain Felisitus Kwangwa last year, the Gems’ defence has presented a yawning gap and Mutsauki is yet to find a solution. Elizabeth Mushore was tipped as the perfect rubber stopper in the ring before she took a maternity induced sabbatical from the game.
The Harare City Queen is expected to bounce back into the national team ahead of the Qualifiers, and it remains to be seen if she will replicate her previous form.
Makate High Flyers’ Kelly Muyambo is also one of the favourites for the position although she had to be ruled out of the TNL due to injury.
Mushore and Muyambo’s absence at the TNL presented a huge chance for Makusha and Tabviroona to prove themselves.
“We have potential players vying for those positions; the return of Mushore and Muyambo will also create more competition for the spots,” added Mutsauki.
“The more competition we have, the better the quality of defenders we get…we still have a bit of time to work on all that.
“But generally, I feel we have a good team that can win us another ticket to the World Cup; we just need to play our cards right and invest more time in preparations.”
Zimbabwe will be back on the international stage in Kenya in September hoping to grab one of two available tickets for Africa at the global showcase.
South Africa and Uganda join Australia, New Zealand, England and Jamaica as the top six World Netball ranking nations who automatically qualified for the World Cup.
To determine the remaining 10 nations to participate at the 16 teams’ tourney, five Regional Qualifiers will take place in September this year with the top two nations from each qualifier earning a slot.
“When we started the Zambezi Eagles project, the idea was to create a reliable feeder into the senior team and a year later, we were impressed with the outcomes,” Mutsauki said.
“Some players have graduated into the Gems while others are still being developed, and at this stage I believe we have the legs to take us to the World Cup.
“Scouting does not stop; more players will come into the Zambezi team as others graduate into the Gems so we are not shutting out any players.”
If the Gems make it to the 2027 World Cup, they become the first team in Zimbabwe to appear at the global showcase three times consecutively.
Zina will also make history as the first association to qualify for the World Cup four times, once in 2017 with the juniors and thrice in 2019, 2023 and 2027 with the seniors.
