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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE will battle Mauritius in the first hurdle of their bid to qualify for next year’s Africa Nations Championship finals.

According to the draw for the zonal qualifiers conducted yesterday at the CAF headquarters in, Cairo, Egypt, the Warriors have a bye in the first round of the CHAN tournament.

They will begin their campaign in the Southern Zone from the second round against Mauritius.

But a bigger battle awaits them, if they progress to the third and final qualifying round, where they are scheduled to meet the winner between neighbours South Africa and Lesotho.

CHAN is a biannual football tournament reserved for players featuring in their respective home leagues.

CAF said in a statement yesterday the dates for the qualifiers will be announced in due course but the finals will take place in Ethiopia early next year.

Zimbabwe missed the previous edition held in Morocco when they fell to a shock defeat to Namibia in the qualifiers.

“This is a good tournament for development, it’s good for exposure. It helps the locally-based players express themselves and it also gives us an opportunity to see the upcoming talents that we can consider for the senior national team,’’ said Warriors coach Sunday Chidzambwa.

“But I have noticed we have a big problem in Zimbabwe, which has also impacted on the results. All the good players that distinguish themselves in our league will be plucked out to South Africa, and other lucrative leagues every year, and we are left to start all over again.

“Naturally this means we have to produce more good players and this is a challenge to the local clubs.