The Sunday Mail
Brighton Zhawi Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe netball team, Gems’ failed mission to qualify for next year’s World Cup with a squad whose average age was 29 should naturally lead to the injection of new blood into the national team. At the Africa Netball Championships in Botswana a fortnight ago, Zimbabwe had a golden opportunity to book a maiden World Cup ticket but the ladies failed to garner at least a third place finish.
Zimbabwe started their campaign with an embarrassing 38-41 defeat to the hosts before agonisingly losing 42-43 to Uganda in the second match.
They recovered to thrash Swaziland 61-41 and Namibia 57-31 but a 42-47 loss to Zambia in a must win final match vanquished their dream of being part of the jamboree in Australia next year.
The surprise loss to hosts, Botswana in the opening match set the negative tone which lingered on, despite the team recovering against lightweights Swaziland and Namibia. The one goal loss against eventual competition winners Uganda, who together with Zambia and Botswana will join Malawi and South Africa as the continent’s representatives, summarises Zimbabwe’s performance. It was a tournament of small margins and the failure to stick to the basics cost the team. The Gems started their matches slowly and on the days they had a positive start, elementary mistakes were frequent while concentration lapses and tiredness featured in all their matches.
However, amidst the dark cloud there were some positives as the team showed some fighting spirit with the usually troublesome wing defence position was well manned by 20-year-old debutant Felistus Kwangwa. The defensive duo of Patience Chinhoyi and Daphine Agere played well but tended to tire during matches.
Skipper Perpetual Siyachitema was impressive, driving the midfield while big shooter Pauline Jani proved to be one of the best on the continent.
The positives, however, should not blinker the team from realising that the mission to get a World Cup ticket failed and naturally changes have to be made.
Zimbabwe Netball Association boss Letitia Chipandu hinted at changes as attention turns to the 5th edition of the Africa Championships next May in Zambia.
