The ManicaPost
Ray Bande, Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE has officially sought to host the annual club the Zone 5 basketball club championships after a stellar performance by Mutare-based Mercenaries, who represented the country in last year’s edition of the regional competition.
It was all smiles for the Mercenaries last year after winning the national title at the National Basketball Club Championships held in Mutare and earned them the right to represent Zimbabwe in the regional competition that was held in South Africa.
What made the achievement outstanding for the Manicaland-based team was fact that for the first time, a team from outside Harare and Bulawayo won the championship.
The national championships featured 24 teams — 12 men and 12 women’s teams — which battled it out for top honours at the country’s most prestigious basketball tournament.
Basketball Union of Zimbabwe (BUZ) vice president Tonderai Shasha confirmed the nation’s bid to host the competition.
“We are indeed in the race to host the competition and we are confident we will win that. Yes, there are a lot of logistical arrangements needed to be put in place before a country can host such a tournament and we believe we are equal to the task,” he said.
Shasha, who doubles as the Manicaland Basketball Union (MBA) president, said the race for the MBA league would resume next Saturday with two teams set to represent the province in this years’ club national finals given that giants Mercenaries will be taking part as defending champions.
“We will have two teams from Manicaland at the national club championships since Mercenaries are coming in as defending national champions.
“The MBA league 2019/2020 season resumes next Saturday after the holiday break and we expect to bring the curtain down on the season’s fixtures by the second week of March.
“After completion of the fixtures we will have the play-offs to see which team represents Manicaland at the national finals along with Mercenaries.
The national championships will be played in Bulawayo in April.
Mercenaries underlined their dominance in Manicaland basketball competitions after ending half of last season on top of the table with a yawning 16-point gap between them and second-placed City Saints.
Powered by talented Moses “Zimo” Muyambo among a host of other gifted players, City Saints are separated from third-placed Chiefs by a solitary point.
Africa University and Dangamvura Knights come in fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
