By SANDRA MWILA –

THE Zambia handball team has continued to shine at the on-going International Handball Federation (IHF) Zone Six championship after the women team stormed the semi-finals beating Botswana 42-3.
And Swaziland who should have played the Zambia women team pulled out of the competition after being intimidated by Zambia’s performance in the game against Botswana.
Handball Association of Zambia (HAZ) communication manager Josab Changa confirmed the development in an interview that Swaziland pulled out from the championship and Zambia was awarded free points.
“We were suppose to play Swaziland, but they pulled out saying they could not play Zambia women team whom they said were  too advanced for them,” Changa said.
The women team that lost their first game against defending champions Mozambique has redeemed themselves qualifying to the semi-finals coming second in Group A which also has Mozambique.
The goals come through Majory Mbewe, Patience Chanda, Ruth Mbewe and Elizabeth Daka.
Meanwhile, the Zambia men team are toping Group A in which they are joined by Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.
Zambia topped Group A after beating South Africa 22-14 in an exciting game that kept spectators on their feet.
South Africa tried their best in search for goals but were stopped by Zambia’s alert goal keeper Tom Mwalungwane.
The Zambian team won the game despite being slapped with a red card leaving a gap in the team and were punished further with a yellow card which translates in a two minutes suspension of a player.
The men team goals come through Chikatizyo Banda who scored eight, Prichard Ndlovu who scored seven and Musa Kambunda.
Changa said the association was impressed with the performance of both teams and that they have higher chances of storming the finals.
“We have invested in grooming both teams and we are positive that it’s Zambia’s time to win the Zone Six trophy,” he said.
Changa further called on well wishers to come on board and financially support the association who are still in a deficit to successfully host the event.
“This is a 7-day tournament, we are still scouting for K175, 000 to cater for logistics during the championship, it has not been easy because of limited finances,” Changa said.