adminRicky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE basketball teams got off to a false start at the ongoing Afro-Basketball and All-Africa qualifiers, losing their matches to South Africa on the opening day in Bulawayo.The joint qualifiers started last Saturday at the ZITF and will end on February 28.
In their opening match, Zimbabwe’s senior women’s team lost to South Africa 63-69 with their male counterparts narrowly losing by four points with the scoreline reading 64-60.
The women managed to recover from their defeat to South Africa, clobbering Botswana 76-44.
With three points, Zimbabwe are at the top of the table and will be required to beat South Africa by more than six points if they entertain any chances of qualifying for Afro-Basketball Championships and All-Africa Games to be held later this year.
The All-Africa Games will be held in Congo-Brazzaville while the Afro-Basketball Championships will be co-hosted by Tunisia and Cameroon. The Zimbabwe women’s team were at the last editions of both competitions held in Mozambique in 2011 and 2013 respectively.
The women’s teams competing for sole tickets to continental competitions are Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana with the men’s category having African basketball powerhouse Angola, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Seychelles.
“Hope isn’t lost for our teams because we’re still going to play these countries in return legs. It’s possible to overturn the scorelines and the good thing is that our players are still upbeat because they see that they’ve equal opportunities to progress to the Afro-Basketball Championships and All Africa Games,” said Shinga Magede, head of protocol, media and publicity at the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe.
This evening the Zimbabwe men’s team continues with their hunt for a first win at the qualifiers when they take on Seychelles at 6PM.
Angola, who are the defending Afro-Basketball champions, take on South Africa at 2PM with Botswana women hoping to stage an upset against South Africa.
Results
Saturday
Men: Zimbabwe 60-64 South Africa
Women: Zimbabwe 63-69 women
Sunday
Men: South Africa 60-52 Seychelles, Angola 100-49 Zimbabwe
Women: Zimbabwe 76-44 Botswana
Online Reporter