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Nkosilathi Sibanda, [email protected]

NABA won the Zimbabwe Volleyball Open men’s championships, with Harare City taking the first position in the women’s competition held at the Midlands State University courts over Easter. 

Highlanders Volleyball Club, who were defending champions, settled for bronze in the men’s division, while University of Zimbabwe Wolves and ZRP’s Support Unit got bronze and silver medals respectively in the ladies’ competition. 

NABA beat Crocs 2-0 in the quarter-finals. They met Black Rhinos in the semi-final and posted a 3-1 victory. Black Rhinos had earlier played against Great Zimbabwe University, beating them 2-0.

The women champions’ first game was a date against Chinhoyi University of Technology, whom they beat 2-1. In their next encounter, they beat Black Mambas 3-0. The final was a tight contest, with Harare City beating UZ Wolves 3-2.

Highlanders, who were the most fancied side for gold, and they beat UZ Wolves 2-0 in their first match, but fell 1-3 to Support Unit in the semi-finals. They went on to beat Black Rhinos 2-1 to secure third place. 

The bronze medallists in the women’s contest, Support Unit, beat Black Rhinos 2-0.

Zimbabwe Volleyball Association vice-president in charge of competitions, Brian Manuel, told Zimpapers Sports Hub that the tournament saw marked improvements from previous competitions, with a better number of teams competing and improved tactics on display.

“There was a vast improvement in terms of the number of teams. We had 20 men’s and 10 women’s teams. This means the tournament is growing. We also noticed that teams had improved tactically.  “The games took long this time around, as we had three full days of action. Technically we are up and the teams have now gone a gear up. The games were fun to watch,” said Manuel.

The tournament served as a curtain raiser to the National Premier League, which is scheduled to start soon.

The annual contest has been held for almost four decades and previous winners include Black Rhinos, Bulawayo Raiders, Unit Fairbridge, Highlanders, Railstars, Thunder, Autobody Construction and David Whitehead.