By SANDRA MWILA –
Zambia 42 Botswana 35
ZAMBIA revived her hopes of qualifying for the World Youth Netball Championship following a win over hosts Botswana at the ongoing African qualifiers in Gaborone yesterday.
This was after the team suffered two straight defeats at the hands of South Africa and Zimbabwe, losing 49-39 and 46-24, respectively.
Zambia trailed the first quarter 12-13, but the team picked up to lead 24-17 going into the break and never looked back as they dominated their hosts to get the much needed win and reignite their campaign.
In the earlier match, Zambia failed to overcome Zimbabwe in the tournament being played on a round robin system, with the top three African teams joining Botswana in qualifying for the World Youth Championship next year in Gaborone.
The game against Zimbabwe was tightly contested with Zambia trailing 11-7, but the Zimbabweans widened the gap in the second quarter to move up the scores to 20-14, as the Kelly Mwanza-coached Zambian side flirted with defeat again.
Zambia took the game to the Zimbabweans in the third quarter with goal shooters Justina Mwale and Mwaale Kalonde trying their luck.
Defenders Bertha Simakoloyi, Besiye Katete and Ethel Pamba struggled to cope with the taller Zimbabweans.
The team eventually lost and not even the efforts of centre Orient Mwanza and wing attacker Rhoda Zulu could help.
Zambia will now need to beat the likes of Swaziland, Malawi, Namibia, Uganda and Lesotho to keep alive hopes of making the World Cup finals.