The Sunday News
Ellina Mhlanga in Liverpool, England
ZIMBABWE assistant coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki says they are content with the progress they have made so far on their Vitality Netball World Cup debut in England after ensuring they meet their initial target.
The Gems, surprise packages of the global showpiece, face Uganda this morning in the seventh and eighth placing match at the M&S Bank Arena as the tournament reaches its climax. When Zimbabwe’s Gems arrived on these shores, their initial target was to secure a top eight finish given that it was their maiden dance with the Netball World Cup and they go into today’s match guaranteed that they will at least finish eighth. If they beat Uganda, who came into this tournament ranked sixth, they can go on to settle for a seventh place finish.
“So far the approach we took for this tournament was excellent and we have managed to get an important experience as team Zimbabwe.
“This game is important to us. Going into this game we have no pressure but Uganda, they are under pressure because of their position on the rankings. So we are going to make their life difficult and with pressure on them I think we have a good chance to win.
“And it’s a very important game to us because it’s a bonus for us, we have got what we wanted, a top eight finish but we can still finish seventh,” said Mutsauki.
Zimbabwe played some of the top ranked teams including Australia, Jamaica and New Zealand.
Although they lost the encounters against these teams, Mutsauki praised her Gems for putting up a good fight in all the matches.
“We are hoping that when we go back home we would have improved more because we have played the highly ranked teams, first, second and fourth we have played them all.
“This has given us confidence as a country and to our players it has boosted their confidence. From all the teams we played we didn’t have an embarrassing score-line, which is very important. So we can say our standard is not bad” said Mutsauki.
