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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter 

THE Basketball Union of Zimbabwe (BUZ) will host its first international event of the year when the AfroBasket preliminaries get underway at City Sports Centre in Harare tomorrow. 

Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Madagascar and the Comoros will battle it out in the preliminaries to determine who goes through to the AfroBasket 2021 qualifiers.

The tournament runs from tomorrow up to Sunday and spectators will part with $20 for an ordinary ticket and $50 for VIP.

Zambia and South Africa will be Zimbabwe’s toughest opponents, but the hosts will be hoping home advantage carries the day for them.

BUZ president Joe Mujuru, who also doubles up as Fiba Africa Zone 6 head of technical and competitions, said their organising committee had worked round the clock to ensure everything is in place in time for the tournament.

Meanwhile, Mujuru also revealed that the training of coaches and referees at provincial and district levels will be a priority for his union this year.

He says taking the game to communities will help rekindle its long-lost spark in the country. 

The association is optimistic that there can be a renewed spark of interest in basketball if all stakeholders have a change in mentality and work towards improving standards of the game.

Basketball used to be one of the most popular sports in the country, particularly among the youths.

However, the game went on a downward spiral and a number of basketball courts lie idle and dilapidated as a witness to the long-lost spark. — @innocentskizoe