By GRACE CHAILE –

ZAMBIA has so far managed to reap nine medals at the 17th edition of the Confederation of University and College Sports Associations (CUCSA) Zone Six Games that come to an end in Lusaka today.
The host nation has minted five gold and four silver medals to top the chart ahead of Zimbabwe on seven, Botswana two while Angola and Malawi are on zero.  Results from the track and field events have been withheld pending verifications.
Lloyd Mubanga won gold in table tennis after beating his counterpart George Mulanda 4-1 (13-11, 11-3, 11-8, 3-11) in the men’s singles finals while the other gold came through Mary Naseme who beat Zimbabwe’s Gutsa Farai 3-1 (11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5) in the women singles finals.
Mubanga and Mulanda later teamed up in the men’s doubles to deliver another gold for Zambia after beating the Zimbabwean pair of Leeroy Munanlande and Claydios Masunderi 3-0 (11-8, 11-3,11-6).
The forth gold was recorded in the mixed doubles event where Mubanga and Nasema beat Muanlandi and Resina Masutelia 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-7).
Zambia could, however, just settle for silver in the women’s doubles after Nasema and Fedless Mbao lost 3-1 to Zimbabwean pair of Tandanguni Fungai and Farai recording set scores of 11-7,11-8, 10-12, 11-6.
Coach Humphrey Kapula described the players’ performance as exceptional after winning four of the five categories.
“I am happy that the players managed to win four of the five categories in the event. It is not a mean achievement and I give thumbs up to the players,” he said.
The country’s fifth gold came in basketball where the women team on Wednesday evening beat Zimbabwe 51-39 in the finals played at the National Sports Development Centre (NASDEC) while a formality game was played last night between the two only side taking part in the best of three’s.
The men’s team beat Zimbabwe 89-68 while Angola humbled South Africa 86-48. Angola will today take on Zambia in a crucial match that would determine who wins gold.
Zambia reaped silver in both men and women chess categories respectively with Zimbabwe going away with gold while Botswana got bronze. Zimbabwe finished tops with 12 points with Zambia on nine, Botswana six, Malawi three and Angola zero.
The women’s standings saw Zimbabwe getting nine points, Zambia four same as Botswana but the host finished second having beaten the Tswans, while Malawi failed to get a points.
In netball, Zambia lost 42-53 to Zimbabwe in the semi finals and by press time were fighting for bronze with Namibia while South Africa and Zimbabwe were competing for gold in the finals at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC).
Meanwhile, the Zambia women team hopes of winning a medal was reignited after beating Zimbabwe 5-1 at the OYDC on Day Three and was yesterday expected to play Botswana in a round robin system.
The men’s football competition saw Namibia setting up a final against South Africa after overcoming their opponents Botswana 4-1 and Zimbabwe 4-3 respectively.