The ManicaPost
Ray Bande in MUTARE and Chipo Sabeta in LIVERPOOL, UK
MUTARE-BORN Zimbabwe netball star Claris Kwaramba — who traces the roots of her career to Penhalonga Primary School — is confident that the Zimbabwe senior national netball team will make a huge impact at the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup which is set to get underway today (Friday) in Liverpool, England.
The Gems — as the Zimbabwe senior national netball team is fondly referred to — will be one of the four African countries at this year’s tournament with the other three countries being South Africa, Malawi and Uganda.
Zimbabwe take on Sri Lanka on Friday, in their first encounter in Group A at the M & S Bank Arena (12.25pm Zimbabwe time).
Sri Lanka are making their 10th appearance at the Netball World Cup.
It has been a busy schedule for the team since their arrival in Liverpool with different groups from the Diaspora community wanting to host the team and there has been a lot of excitement from their fans.
The 19-year old versatile player, who is also excelling in her educational studies after attaining 20 points at A Level, said the team is in good shape to make an impact at the Vitality Netball World Cup.
“Even though this is our debut World Cup assignment, we are confident that we will make a huge impact given the zeal and determination within our camp.
“We really want to make a bold statement about the potential of the game of netball in Zimbabwe and we can only do so by winning our matches here at the World Cup,” she said.
Kwaramba, who is one of the senior players in this World Cup expedition in England, is currently attached to Zvishavane’s Platinum Stars.
Multichoice, the Pan African satellite broadcaster has promised full coverage of the games for the first time. The Publicity and Public Relations Manager for Multichoice Zimbabwe, Liz Dziva had this to say: “We are excited by the Gems’ involvement and I am sure all Zimbabweans will be keen to see how they get on in Liverpool, where the tournament starts next week.”
This will be the first time every match can be seen live through the World of Champions, and is recognition of the growing importance of netball in the sporting arena DStv will cover the tournament across multiple platforms including DStv Catch Up, DStv Now, supersport.com, <http://supersport.com%2C/> Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.
Day 1
July 12: New Zealand vs Malawi (SS9, 9.45am)
July 12: Barbados vs Singapore (SS10, 10.45am)
July 12: Australia vs Northern Ireland (SS9, 11.45am)
July 12: Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka (SS10, 12.05pm)
July 12: Opening Ceremony (SS9, 4pm)
July 12: Jamaica vs Fiji (SS9, 5.30pm)
July 12: South Africa vs Trinidad and Tobago (SS10, 6.05pm)
July 12: England vs Uganda (SS9, 7.45pm)
July 12: Scotland vs Samoa (SS10, 8.05pm)
