ZIMBABWE’S national Sevens rugby team will hold a training camp at the High Perfomance Centre (HPC) in Pretoria, South Africa, ahead of their participation in the Africa 2016 Rio Olympics qualifiers set for November 14-15 in Johannesburg.
by DANIEL NHAKANISO
The Cheetahs, as the national Sevens side is affectionately known, have been intensifying their preparations for the continental qualifiers, as they aim to become the second team sport to qualify for the Rio Olympics after the women’s football national team.
In what should be a further boost to their preparations, head coach, Daniel Hondo told NewsDay Sport they will finalise their preparations at the world-class training facilities at the University of Pretoria.
“Preparations have been going well thus far. We are getting there. The locally-based players have been working hard both in the gym and field sessions and everyone is looking forward to the Olympic qualifiers,” he said.
“We will be naming our squad after the Sevens Summer Series tomorrow (Sunday) before we head to Pretoria for a five-day training camp at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria,” he said.
The former Sables and Cheetahs star said the domestic Sevens Sumer Series, which kicked off last weekend at the Harare Sports Club had given their preparations a huge boost.
“We have also been fortunate to have the Sevens Summer Series, which started last weekend, as it has given the guys an opportunity to get some competitive game time. Recently, we also participated at the Safland Windhoek Sevens in Namibia and the Safari Sevens in Kenya, so the players and that has all been good for our preparations,” Hondo said.
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The Cheetahs will battle it out against Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Zambia, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritius and Morocco for a place at the Olympics.
The winners will secure their ticket for the Rio Olympics alongside neighbours South Africa, who gained automatic qualification after finishing second in the 2014/2015 HSBC World Sevens Series.
The runners-up head into a play-off against second-placed teams from the qualifiers held in other continents.
