Zimbabwe Handball Federation (ZHF) secretary-general Edson Chirowodza is optimistic that the under-18 and under-20 teams will do well at the upcoming Zone VI (Africa) International Handball Federation Trophy Women 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The tournament will run from May 23 to May 27 at Wits University and Orlando Communal Hall, with Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the hosts South Africa taking part.
With the players already in their final training camp at Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex, Chirowodza said the teams were looking forward to the competition.
“The preparations are going on so well and we have all our players in camp now and in this tournament we are expecting about eight countries from the southern region,” said Chirowodza.
“Going into this competition, we are not very much aware of the level at which our competitors are at because there has been a lot of time of inactivity for this age group due to COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we are almost at par in terms of team performance and we look forward to be also competitive.”
The top teams in each category will progress to the continental showpiece where the top two teams will also qualify for the World Cup this year.
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“We have done our part to assemble this team, starting from a provisional list of 28 players per team who were attending the last two camps. Now we have the final list of 14 players per team who are in camp,” he said.
Chirowodza said there were ongoing negotiations with a fastfood franchise for sponsorship.
The team is expected to leave for South Africa on Monday by road.