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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter
THE Hockey Association of Zimbabwe are not leaving anything to chance ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as the just-ended Test series against Zambia was part of their efforts to ensure they come up with a strong team for the event.
The four-day series for the men’s field hockey teams ended on Sunday at St John’s College. It ended in a 1-1 draw after four games as the two countries won a game each and drew the other two games.
Both Zimbabwe and Zambia fielded their national teams and their developmental sides.
Zimbabwe’s national side beat Zambia 6-4 in the opening game. They then drew 2-2 in the next game before Zambia prevailed 5-3 over Zimbabwe.
In the last game they drew 3-3.
Zimbabwe’s convenor of selectors for men’s hockey, Khanyiwe Tafuma, said the series was part of their preparations for the ACN qualifiers.
“I think the main focus on this is we are preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers games that we are going to play in August at St John’s College.
“So it’s a group of new players that haven’t had international experience and we are just trying to give them as much game-time as possible before we go to the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
“We literally have quite a youthful side. I think it’s only three or four senior guys that have played for the national team prior but the majority of the guys are still new. So that’s why we are trying to have as many games as possible before we get to the qualifiers.
“It’s totally a rebuilding exercise because most of the senior guys, due to Covid, everyone went off and they are no longer like willing to play or they have started some new things.
“Like one of the former captains who was there, Tendayi Maredza, is trying to do as much development in schools and everything,” said Tafuma.
The qualifiers are due to take place from August 27 to September 4 at St John’s College. Zimbabwe are hoping for more friendly games against Malawi, Botswana and Zambia before August and also organise weekend training sessions for the squad.
Tafuma believes they are in the right direction based on what they witnessed in the just-ended Test series against Zambia.
“I think we are going in the right direction considering we had two years of non-activity due to Covid.
“We need to try and have as many as possible squad sessions before we even get to the tournament, so that at least they get match fitness and everything before we actually get to the games.
“But in terms of quality and what we need before the games, I think we are getting it. And also you can actually tell in terms of intensity from the first match we played against Zambia and the last day, you can actually see that it was improving with each and every game.
“So I think that’s a positive thing in terms of the squad that we selected,” said Tafuma.
They are also waiting for the coaches’ feedback to make some adjustments depending on whether there were players from the developmental side that they would want in the national team.
Results
Day 1: Zimbabwe 6, Zambia 4.
Zimbabwe A 1, Zambia A 2.
Day 2: Zimbabwe 2, Zambia 2
Zimbabwe A 1, Zambia A 1.
Day 3: Zimbabwe 3, Zambia 5.
Day 4: Zimbabwe 3, Zambia 3.
Zimbabwe A 0, Zambia A 0.
Online Reporter