By GWEN CHIPASULA –
THE Zambia netball team yesterday left for Australia to participate in the Sydney 2015 World Cup finals where 16 countries will be competing for honours.
Zambia was drawn in Pool D against Fiji, Wales and Uganda at the Netball World Cup which will run from August 7 to 16 at the Allphones Arena and Netball Central.
Charles Zulu’s charges are bubbling with confidence and optimistic of performing well after completing a tough but competitive training regime.
In the run-up to the Sydney Netball World Cup, Zambia participated at the Kwazulu Natal Diamond Challenge in South Africa and the Africa Cup tournament in Namibia.
At the Diamond Challenge, the Zambian women came out last of the four World Cup-bound teams – South Africa, Uganda and Malawi while in Namibia, Zulu’s troops were second.
However, the preparations for the World Cup were not all that smooth as the team faced some financial constraints but managed to pull through following support from Government and other partners.
Sports Minister, Vincent Mwale appealed to the netballers to aim high at the 14th global showcase and urged Zambians to rally behind the team as it attempts to bring more honour to the nation.
Mwale said the netballers, who were feted and dressed by Multichoice Zambia, had already done the nation proud by qualifying to the World Cup.
“With or without that trophy, just know that the country is proud of you. It is not easy to go for the World Cup because qualification is one big thing and you ladies managed it,” he said during a send-off luncheon organised by Multichoice in Lusaka on Thursday.
Netball Association of Zambia general secretary, Pritchard Ngoma assured the nation that the team would work hard to bring good results home.