Flying start for Botswana in volleyball qualifiers
Correspondent | Thursday May 7, 2015 14:32
Four countries; Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique are eyeing a place in the All Africa Games set for September in Congo Brazzaville later this year.
The teams will continue playing in a round robin format until tomorrow where the overall winners for both men and women would earn a ticket to represent Zone VI at the games in Congo.
In the first game, Mozambican men beat Zimbabwe 3-1. In the second game, Mozambique women beat Zimbabwe 3-0 while Botswana women beat Zambia 3-0 as well.
The final game of the night saw Botswana men dispose of Zambia in a thrilling match, which the hosts conquered 3-1. The last time the Ditshupo Hall hosted a volleyball competition was in 1996 when local teams gathered for the defunct Schweppes Volleyball Grand Prix that was sponsored for a long time by Kgalagadi Breweries Limited.
Hitherto, the hall had been regularly used for other local tournaments, among them the Barclays Cup, the Debswana Cup as well as the Blue Train Marathon that was sponsored by Botswana Railways.
On Tuesday, the hall once again buzzed with nostalgic excitement for those who played in the 1990s, remembering the camaraderie that used to permeate the expanse of the facility at the time. Tomorrow, Zimbabwe women take on their Zambian counterparts by midday, followed by the same countries’ male teams at 2pm.
Botswana women will conclude their tournament against Mozambique at 4pm while the same teams meet at 16pm on the men’s side.
Only the top teams in each category will play at the All Africa Games. Malawi and Lesotho withdrew at the 11th hour, forcing the schedule to be changed.
South Africa, Angola, Namibia and Swaziland are other countries that are not participating.