BY GERALD MUTSVAIRO

ZIMBABWE men’s national basketball team coach Addison Chiware was pleased with the performance of his team on Monday night when they defeated Mozambique 67-61 in the opening match of the AfroCan Zone Six tournament being hosted in Harare.

The hosts paraded their star player Vitalis Chikoko, who is based in France. He contributed 12 points with Warren Tegama making 22 points, which was the highest individual score on Zimbabwe’s scorecard.

Chiware was pleased that they finally managed to beat Mozambique who are one of the regional giants.

“I’m very happy with the result and it’s a good feeling when you win against a big opponent like Mozambique. Mozambique is a powerhouse. It is good that we have managed to win which is what we wanted,” he said.

- Advertisement -

Zimbabwe will take on Zambia in their next match today and Chiware yesterday said his team was in the best condition to take on their northern neighbours.

“We are preparing for the match against Zambia and everything is running smoothly. We have no injuries recorded from the last match and everyone is looking forward to play tomorrow. Following the last performance, we will go into the next match with a lot of confidence, but we know we will be in for a tough match against Zambia and we will not take anything for granted.”

The match against Zambia will be played at the City Sports Centre starting at 6pm.

Chiware said he will employ a different approach to the one they used against Mozambique when they tackle Zambia.

“Zambia is a good team, and we will use different strategies and we hope to also maximise on the opportunities we get in the match .The aim is to win this match again, but we will see what will come out.”

Zimbabwe Team: Tawanda Chitsinde, Warren Tegama, Tatenda Maturure, Agrippa Masvisvi, Simbarashe Mungomezi (vice-captain), Allen Danga, Noah Penduka, Benson Nyatanga, Henry Chizah, Neville Chivhanganye, Everisto Pasipamire, Vitalis Chikoko (captain).