By GODFREY DUBE –
SIX teams from Zimbabwe have confirmed participation in this year’s Zambia Independence tournament to be held this Saturday at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka.
Handball Association of Zambia (HAZ) president Victor Banda said the tournament was his executive’s contribution to celebrating the country’s the 53rd country’s independence anniversary.
This is the third year running that the HAZ is hosting the international Independence tournament which was aimed at developing the sport in the two countries.
“The tournament is meant to strategically help strengthen the development of the sport in Zambia and Zimbabwe.   We shall have the under-14, under-17 and under-20 teams taking part in the tournament,” Banda said.
Banda said the tournament will help expose the young players to international standards and bring in new skills and that either country has picked up
The Zambia handball Independence tournament was initiated in 2015 and has continued to grow with the number of teams participating increasing.
Banda said Zambia will be represented by the top six clubs in the handball league in the country and was confident Zambia will defend the titles.
“Zambia will be represented by Kasisi Dynamite, Silverrest, Kamwala Stars, OYDC Lusaka Tigers, Ndeke Warriors and Misisi Rangers. It will be a big tournament this year and we expect a lot of fun,” he said.
Zimbabwe teams are expected to arrive in the country tomorrow evening as the games are set for Saturday and will be played on round robin basis.