Shelly Guni
The Zimbabwe Senior national netball team (Gems) and the under 19 are expected to leave for Blantyre, Malawi tomorrow ahead of the COSANA Tri-Nations Cup.
The tournament which features Namibia and the hosts Malawi will start on Sunday, June 12 and will run until June 16.
This tournament comes at a time when the Gems are preparing for the World Cup Qualifiers set for August this year in South Africa.
The COSANA Cup was last played in 2009 and Malawi won that edition.
In an interview with Review & Mail, Gems assistant coach Tatenda Shinya said they were targeting gold medal.
“Our preparations went well. Though we had less time to prepare but I’m sure we have done whatever we can to come up with the best team.
“We have worked in all areas and all the combinations are coming up well.
“We are expecting positive results. We are not going there not to compete but to win.
“Our main aim is to beat Malawi since they are one of the best teams in Africa.”
In their last encounter, Zimbabwe won 50-49 over Namibia.
And, Shinya said they will not be in any kind of pressure when they face the Desert Jewels.
“We have worked a lot on our mistakes that we made in our last encounter and we are ready to face Namibia without any pressure and we are ready to win without any pressure.
Meanwhile, the Under 19 team will be playing against Namibia and Malawi under 19s as they also prepare for the upcoming AUSC Region 5 Youth Games.
Under 19 coach Simbarashe Mlambo believes his side will take the opportunity to assess their preparation levels.
“We have done very well. The preparations have been going on very well. The guys have met certain requirements and we have selected the best 12.
“We are going to use this opportunity to assess them ahead of the Region Five games that are going to be held in Malawi and it’s an advantage for us because when we go there we are going to be acclimatising,” he said.
