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Nhlanhla Mbele
THREE of Zimbabwe’s Under-18 boys’ and girls’ representatives at the recently held International Basketball Foundation (IBF) 3×3 Young Lions Cup in Botswana walked away with individual medals after their respective teams did well at the four-day event.
The contest that had eleven Sadc countries’ top boys’ and girls’ teams from Zimbabwe, hosts Botswana, Comoros, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Seychelles, Namibia, Mauritius and Madagascar, was played in Gaborone from 28 November to 1 December where different nationalities were mixed to form teams with the goal of breaking the borders between the different countries.
In the girl’s category, team Strikers that had the services of Zimbabwe’s Ruth Kudakwashe Mwaudzeni came out as the second best team and they got silver medals after falling to Bocamama Ballers in the final match of the competition.
Samantha Jemwa’s Sparks team got bronze having beaten fellow countryman, Shantel Mugwagwa’s Stars in a third place playoff.
In the boy’s discipline, Warriors, who had Mthokozisi Ncube in their squad conquered all and sundry to scoop gold medals.
Basketball Union of Zimbabwe (BUZ) competitions president Yesaya Ignatious said: “The boys and girls played pretty well. My hope was to see a team with Zimbabweans in the finals and I’m happy that it happened.”
Zimbabwe Under-18 boys and girls are two-time champions in the 3×3 Young Lions Cup in Southern Africa which started in 2017.
Zim Under-18 Players That Travelled to Botswana
Boys: Taboyamlimu Mathe, Mthokozisi Ncube, Tanonoka Shawn Pedzi, Tomuvonga Msasanure.
Girls: Tadiwa Anna Mabika, Samantha Jemwa, Ruth Kudakwashe
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu