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Geophrey Sifani Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe national basketball team will play three friendly matches against Zambia in Harare over the weekend as part of their preparations for the senior men’s Afro Basketball tournament to be held in Tunisia next month.

The Zambian team is expected in the country tomorrow in time for the opening match later in the day.

“Zambia is a competitive team and we’re hoping they help us in our preparations to enable the coach to select the best team to represent the nation in Tunisia,” said national team general manager Shinga Magede.

He said the squad would be joined by one of the foreign-based players, Leonard Mapurisa, who plays in neighbouring South Africa.

The Afro Basketball tournament runs from 19-30 August in Tunisia and the Zimbabwe senior men’s team is expected to arrive on August 16 ahead of the draw the following day.

The Basketball Union of Zimbabwe (BUZ) are still negotiating with potential sponsors for funding to cater for the team’s expenses.

Joe Mujuru, BUZ secretary-general, said they were optimistic of making a breakthrough.

“We’re hopeful something will come up in time. Failure isn’t an option and we continue to appeal to stakeholders to help our team fulfil its mandate,” said Mujuru.

The team has been involved in a number of fundraising activities and Magede said they hoped to raise the required funding to enable players to showcase their talent at such a prestigious event.

“We’re making our very first major appearance in this tournament against 16 countries and we’re hoping to give it our best,” said Magede.