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Veronica Gwaze in Pretoria, South Africa
THE Zimbabwe senior netball team head coach Ropafadzo Mutsauki wants his charges to have self-confidence and believe that they can qualify for the 2023 World Netball Cup finals as they take on Botswana today. In their opening World Cup Qualifiers quest at the ongoing tournament in Pretoria, the Gems seek to secure a second successive appearance at the global contest.

The finals, to take place in Africa for the first time, are slated for Cape Town, South Africa, in July next year.

To make their Netball World Cup dreams alive, the Mutsauki-led Gems charges will have to grab one of the two available spots after South Africa and Uganda automatically qualified based on their World Netball rankings.

Coach Mutsauki urged his charges not to underrate Botswana although they have usually widely defeated them in their previous encounters.

He notes that picking a win in their opening game will boost their confidence for the tournament.

“The game is important for us and we need to take it seriously, we need a win so that we boost our confidence for the tournament so we have to be our best,” he said.

“We need, above all, self-belief and the right mental aptitude that we can do it and indeed we can.”

Mutsauki warned his team to, in fact, approach all their fixtures with all the mental strength for a successful campaign.

To boost their poise, the Gems have also been joined by Australia-based goal-shooter Joice Takaidza who linked up with the team in South Africa.

The lanky goal-shooter was also part of the team that stunned the global stage in 2019 in the Gems maiden Netball World Cup appearance in Lverpool, England.

Despite approaching the tourney as minnows, the then Lloyd Makunde-led team left the world literally eating off their palms as they finished the tournament on position eight.

With Botswana having gone into a rebuilding exercise recently, Mutsauki said the Gems need not to underrate their opponents. “The team now has some new players so it will be a tricky game as you cannot tell what to expect, we need to be cautious,” said the Gems coach.

“In camp, the girls showed a lot of determination, commitment and had all the desire to train which is the mentality we need throughout this tournament and the arrival of Takaidza simply added the icing on to the cake.”

If the Gems maintain the attitude they had in camp, Mutsauki said, they will achieve positive results. His charges, he added, will bank on marking from the midcourt to cut supply for the rivals.

“Their shooting is very accurate which means the best way around them is to cut supply from the middle.

“Our combinations are strong and we worked tirelessly on our mid-court, we are strong, defensively so we just need to play as a team and stick to the game-plan,” said Mutsauki. However, despite the target being to qualify for the global showcase, Mutsauki said his team should not be under pressure.

Instead, he advised them to play to enjoy the game. “Pressure will give them nothing but unforced errors and instability as a team so they need to enjoy the game and that way, they can bring results.

“We had a series of sessions with a psychologist during the training camp and we noted some positive changes in the manner in which the team relates with each other.

“Mentally they are ready so we should avoid giving them too much pressure, we just need to enjoy and let the game flow,” he said.

Fixtures

11am: Malawi v Eswathini

1pm: Zimbabwe v Botswana

6pm: South Africa v Namibia