Fresh from making a surprising showing in the Netball World Cup in Liverpool this year, the Zimbabwe Netball team, the Gems are on the hunt for a silverware in the Netball African Championships.
The Championships will be in Cape Town South Africa at The Velodrome Indoor Sports Centre from 16 to 23 October 2019.
The team’s coach, Ropafadzo Mutsauki told 263Chat yesterday that there was no added pressure to perform better than at the world cup as the tournament had different expectations.
“There is no pressure at all for the team to do better than Liverpool because it’s just a game,” he boasted.
Zimbabwe is paired in the same group with Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, a challenge Mutsauki said he and his charges are relishing.
“Uganda is a very good side and it will be a very tough match but we will see what we can do. We need to win the first round and then the second round we must win,” he said.
The gems lost to Uganda at the Liverpool World Cup and this could be another chance for the giants to renew their rivalry.
Three players who played in the world cup have retired but the coach said they have a large pool to choose from.
He has since named his 12 member team which will be led by team Captain Felisitus Kwangwa, who was bullish of producing good results.
“We are going to continue from where we left from in Liverpool and the fans need to expect more good results, we will definitely put smiles on their faces,” she said.
Defender, Lorraine Manjoro said the team will do “its best” to beat Uganda and Malawi, with the latter likely to be faced in the second round.
Letitia Chipandu will lead the 16 member delegation.
