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FOR THEIR COUNTRY . . . Fans have thronged venues in Bulawayo to support Zimbabwe’s athletes at the Games underway in the City of Kings

Lillian Sibanda in BULAWAYO
A VOCIFEROUS Zimbabwean crowd at White City netball courts propelled the Zimbabwe netball team to a memorable gold medal at the expense of South Africa in the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Games yesterday.Zimbabwe beat South Africa 45-37.

The pair of goalscorers Sharon Bwanali and Mercy Mukwadi were again a marvel to watch as they took turns to bang in goals as a result of their excellent combination.

It was no surprise when the Golden Girls cruised to a 11-2 first quarter lead.

They continued with their dominance in the second quarter .

As the second half and third quarter started, the crowd which by now was well over 4 500, was in delirium, cheering every pass from the team coached by Ropafadzo Mutsauki.

Bwanali was humbled by the support from the fans.

“I do not know what to say. The fans were screaming my name and gave me the energy to soldier on even when the chips were down during the  game. I am happy that we managed to raise our flag high,” said Bwanali.

Mutsauki hailed the players.

“I am very happy and I would like to give credit to my players who gave it their all throughout the tournament.  They played very well and were able to follow our instructions. We did well by dominating from the first blow of the whistle because we did not want to have a repeat episode of what happened on Tuesday when they beat us,” Mutsauki said.

South Africa’s coach Jenny Van Dyk said she was disappointed by the loss.

“We had a slow start to the game but we learnt a lot from the Zimbabwean team,” she said.

Botswana beat Namibia 48-28 to take home the bronze medal.