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Takudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter
FC PLATINUM will begin their defence of the Chibuku Super Cup with a first round date against Dongo Sawmill at Mandava next weekend. Norman Mapeza and his men won the tournament after edging a battling Harare City in a tense final last year.

Now, they should fancy their chances of another good run after being paired against Dongo in the $75,000 tournament.

The top eight teams in the championship race were seeded at the draw.

CAPS United were yesterday drawn against ZPC Kariba.

The Harare giants will meet struggling ZPC Kariba, now under the guidance of Sunday Chidzambwa, at the National Sports Stadium.

The draw also saw Highlanders being paired with How Mine in a Bulawayo derby that will see one of the two teams getting an early exit from the $75,000 tournament.

CAPS United board member marketing, Alois Bunjira, said the draw was fair and they only wanted to avoid Highlanders.

‘We’re happy with the draw and ZPC Kariba are on a bad patch this time around and I hope that it will continue into the weekend when we meet them.

“They’re a good side, which we’ll not underrate, but we’ll make sure that we progress to the next round.

“Highlanders were going to be difficult for us and it’s good that we may meet them in later stages of the tournament if we progress.

“The other teams at the bottom half weren’t intimidating and we would face them any time. We’re now going to prepare for them and playing at home will be an advantage to us.”

CAPS are likely to be without big defender Oscar Machapa who has signed a deal to join crack Congolese side, AS Vita, just days after returning to the Green Machine.

Machapa was negotiating with the Congolese side before he decided to join CAPS United but, after putting pen to paper at the Green Machine and playing one game, decided to move to AS Vita.

The Congolese side, who reached the final of the African Champions League last year, were also interested in Dynamos striker Rodreck Mutuma.

ZPC Kariba believe they are now getting into the groove and will start winning matches after their restructuring exercise.

Club board member, Gift Milala, said this is going to be their turning point and his men will proceed into the next round.

“We’re happy with the draw and CAPS United are a good side but we’re hopeful we’re going to start winning from that game.

“We’ve managed to capture some good players during the window period who we believe will turn around our fortunes.

“We have Limited Chikafa back to full fitness and we have Leonard Fiyado whom we signed from CAPS United who I think will bring in the goals for us.

“The team is playing well but we’re losing it on finishing. We look forward to the game against CAPS United,” said Milala.

Highlanders said they were ready for a Bulawayo showdown against How Mine.

Modern Ngwenya, a member of the Harare chapter of the Bosso supporters, said they did not want to take on Dynamos at this early stage.

The two giants clash in the Commander ZNA Charities Shield final at Rufaro tomorrow.

“Drawing against How Mine is good for us and we’re used to playing in those derbies and I hope there’ll be not much difference.

“How Mine have been doing well in the first half of the season so it’ll be a difficult match.

“We were worried against drawing Dynamos as we would like to meet them at the latter stages of the tournament so that it becomes exciting,” Ngwenya said.

Delta Beverages marketing manager, Patricia Murambinda, said they were happy to partner the Premiership once again.

“Chibuku’s association with football has turned it into an iconic brand and Chibuku intend to cement their support in football, which is the most loved sport in Zimbabwe.

“Our goal is to grow the Chibuku brand and cement our support of football, the most loved sport in Zimbabwe,” Murambinda said.

The first round will begin on August 8-9.

The quarter finals will be on August 19-20, semi-finals are set for October 3-4 and the final will be on October 31.

The top seeded teams will play at home in the first round while another draw will be held for the second round.

Draw: Chicken Inn v Hwange (Luveve), Triangle v Tsholotsho (Gibbo), Dynamos v Whawha (Rufaro), How Mine v Highlanders (Luveve), CAPS United v ZPC Kariba (ZNSS), Chapungu v Flame Lilly (ascot), FC Platinum v Dongo Sawmill (Mandava), Harare City v Bufaloes (Rufaro).