Botswana targets South Africa's scalp
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday December 7, 2018 13:02
The team has set an ambitious target of winning 15 gold, 16 silver and 11 bronze medals. However, the team did not have a dream start after going down 54-24 to Zimbabwe in the opening netball game yesterday. On the brighter side, two tennis players qualified for the quarterfinals.
Chef de mission, Boitumelo Moahi said the team is ready to do battle. “We intend to use home ground advantage. We have a large team when compared to the one that we took to Angola in 2016,” Moahi said.
Botswana finished as runners-up to South Africa in Angola in 2016.
She said in the previous competition, Botswana did not send team sport but now they have fielded basketball, football and volleyball. Team Botswana has a delegation of 275, and of those, 215 are athletes. Moahi said they took the team to Orapa for a training camp to minimise interference.
“We took them there because we wanted them to focus on training without outside interference,” she said.
“Now our aim is to take over what South Africa did in Angola. That is possible if we focus.” She said one of the teams that were threat in basketball was Mozambique, but they have pulled out. However, Angola still poses a formidable threat.
Moahi has urged Batswana to come in large numbers to support the team at various venues. She said it is an opportunity not to be missed, as it is the first time Botswana is hosting the regional championships.