By GRACE CHAILE –
TWELVE Zambian players yesterday qualified to the first round of the main draw at the on-going Zambia International Championship at National Sports Development Centre (NASDEC) in Lusaka.
This international event opened on Thursday and ends tomorrow with 54 players from 11 countries competing for honours.
Out of the 22 Zambian players, 12 managed to sail through to the first round of the main draw.
In the  men’s qualifiers, African Junior champion, Kalombo Mulenga knocked out Humphrey Mwaba 2-0 with set scores of 21-11 and 21-12 while Chongo Mulenga humbled Edgar Nakanika 21-9, 21-9 (2-0).
Matipa Yombwe beat Taizya Lusambo 2-1 with set scores of 15-21, 21-16 and 11-21 and Julius Mbewe triumphed over Muka Chimuka 2-0 (21-9 and 21-7).
Cheezwa Nkanda beat Danny Nyanga 2-0 (21-10 and 21-7 ) with Steve Kamanga winning 2-0 (21-5, 21-6) over Fidelis Chonga while Owen Mukuka beat Peter Zulu 2-0 (21-17, 21-18).
The other five Zambian players qualified to the last 32 based on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings where they accumulated points from the international tournaments they participated in.
Zambia’s seed two Chongo Ngosa, seed three Donald Mabo, fifth seed Charles Kalonde, seed six Chongo Chalwe and seventh seeded Obbery Mulenga all booked their places in the first round.
In the women category, the singles were scheduled for late yesterday with Zambia’s  top seed Ogar Siamupangile facing Hadia Hosni of Egypt.
Zambia is expected to face tough competition in their chase for a medal from tournament top seed Rosario Maddaloni of Italy, seed two Italian Giovanni Greco  and third seed, Alen Roj of Solevenia.
The 11 participating countries include hosts Zambia, Italy, Mexico, Hungry, Slovenia, South Africa, Egypt, Mauritius, Iran, Uganda and Botswana.