By Freeman Makopa
Mutare-based basketball club, Mercenaries, who are the country’s representatives at this year’s edition of the Basketball Africa League, are confident of progressing to the next round.
The qualifiers, which are scheduled for Johannesburg, South Africa, will run from today to Sunday.
Mercenaries coach Innocent Sithole is confident his charges have what it takes to reach the next round.
He said they were determined to progress to the next round.
“It is the first of its kind in Africa and we feel we have a good chance of getting into the next round,” he said.
Mercenaries were drawn into Group E where they will battle top clubs such as Ferraviario de Maputo (Mozambique), Jozi Nuggets (South Africa), UNZA Pacers (Zambia), Dolphins (Botswana) and Lions Club (Namibia).
Sithole said participating in such a tournament will expose the team to international competition and help in building a stronger Zimbabwean team.
“The financial rewards for going to the next round are huge and this will also help our players to gain experience as they will be battling against top clubs from around the region and we are also opening doors towards a professional team in Zimbabwe,” he added.
Meanwhile, Harare City Hornets maintained their dominance on top of the Men’s A league after beating BUSE Men 92-63 over the weekend.
