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A strong 64-member Zimbabwe junior handball team left the country yesterday for Johannesburg, South Africa, where they will take part in the South Africa Handball Federation’s invitational tournament starting tomorrow.

The Zimbabwe delegation comprises of two boys teams (Under-14 and Under-16) and three girls sides (Under-14, Under-16 and Under-17) who will do duty for the country in the four-day tournament at the David White Hall in Johannesburg.

Other countries that are also taking part in the competition include Botswana, Swaziland and the hosts South Africa who are hosting the tournament for the first time.

Amon Madzvamuse, the Zimbabwe Handball Federation president, is expecting the team to perform well as they have been dominating in the regional games for the past three years.

“We have selected the squad and the players will be grouped into five teams and they will be seeded in different groups which we may find that teams from Zimbabwe may meet in the semi-finals.

“Zimbabwe has been in the limelight of late because we have been winning at these regional tournaments and we are expected to spice-up this invitational tournament, so we have made it a trend that every time we travel outside our borders, we have to go and win.”

Madzvamuse said the junior teams have made their mark in regional tournaments, having won several tournaments over the past few years.

“The only tournaments we are yet to make a mark are the ones which we travel overseas but regionally we have had several achievements so we need to continue with our winning trend.

“We are looking forward to bringing back gold and silver medals, no bronze this time around and our teams are ready for this particular tournament and they will be winning it for the Zimbabwe Handball Federation to be among the best national association, come 2016.

“With the winning culture and standards we have imposed on these teams during the preparatory period I think we have a very formidable team that we will be travelling with,” he added.

Prospect Primary School coach, Peter Chinyama, says his team is a winning brand and they also want to continue on that note.

“Prospect is the best team in the Under-14 age-group and we have been dominating for five years now. I know my soldiers are ready for the battle and I know they will win because they always do so.

“We have managed to make winning a culture and be competitive no matter the cost and this way we have become successful and we hope to continue doing what we do best,” said Chinyama.

Innocent Kanosvova, the coach of Harare’s Girls High School team, is no stranger to silverware as well, and says it’s a norm for them to win in the regional tournaments.

“We have been travelling a lot of late and the team has gained a lot of experience in our travels. As a coach I do not expect anything less than a gold medal because I know that we are the best in the region,” said Kanosvova.

Yonai Manyonga, also of Girls High School, is one of the senior players travelling to South Africa and thinks the team will win at the invitational tournament.

“We travelled a lot and we have gained experience with the competitions we have participated in. I know we will win because we are always well prepared what is left is to play and win the gold medals because we do not expect anything less,” she said. — Sportszone.