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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter

WITH a week to go before the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe Inter-provincial Championships, hosts Harare are stepping up their preparations on and off the field.

The inter-provincials are scheduled to take place on May 22 at the National Sports Stadium.

The Harare Athletic Board is also expected to finalise their provincial team this weekend, after the Amen Academy Championships to be held on Saturday at the B Arena.

HAB secretary-general Sledge Chinyoka said they are almost done with their preparations to host the national meet and preparing their team.

“It’s the second selection meet for HAB, we are going to pick the winners to represent Harare next weekend, on the 22nd of May in the inter-provincials.

“So after tomorrow (Saturday) we finalise our team, then submit the team to the national association. We want to field athletes in all events that will be on offer.

“In terms of hosting, the technical team will be going to the National Sports Stadium to assess everything,” said Chinyoka.

Among the several events the lined up for Saturday’s selection meet include 100m hurdles for women and 110m hurdles for men, which were not part of the last competition.

“This time we have hurdles and we are going to pick athletes for hurdles because we did not have that event in the last competition.

“Unfortunately there is a split of events, some of our athletes are going to Zambia for the All Comers Meet. So some have already left but nevertheless it’s not going to deter us from picking a team that will defend our title,” said Chinyoka.

Harare have been dominating the inter-provincials over the years and will be out to maintain their dominance on May 22.