Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe senior men’s squash team won over Rwanda before they were beaten by Egypt in the opening round of the Squash Federation of Africa Senior Championships on Saturday.
Fans and officials watch an international squash game between Zimbabwe and Egypt at CBC school yesterday……..Pic By Dennis Mudzamiri…
Zimbabwe men began their journey against Rwanda which they won 3-0 in the morning and went on to lose against powerhouse, Egypt with the same score line in the afternoon.
The Zimbabwean team is comprised of Malvin Mubure, Ryan Gwidzima, Callum Lawton and Roy Jambo (reserve).
In their first match against Rwanda at Suburbs Squash Club, Mubure won 3-0 and his counterparts, Gwidzima and Lawton also won by the same score line to hand Zimbabwe a perfect start to the competition.
The perfect start was however ruined at Christian Brothers College by the Egyptians who are one of the favourites to go all the way in the prestigious tournament.
Lawton started the proceedings for Zimbabwe against Egypt and he lost his match 3-0. His defeat was followed by the same score line defeat of Mubure and Gwidzima.
Zimbabwe team manager, Admire Magwaza said he’s neither disappointed nor happy with the results as it was the first round of the matches and there is still more to come as the tournament progresses.
Zimbabwe Squash coach Admire Magwaza (right) give tips to a player Malvin Mubure during a Squash match between Zimbabwe and Egypt st CBC school yesterday…….Pic By Dennis Mudzamiri.
“I can’t say I’m not happy or I’m happy because this is the early stage of the tournament, we faced a tough opponent and a fair one in the first stage but I can say we are building up, everyone is getting to adapt to the conditions and what we need to do for the tournament,” said Magwaza.
Having begun their preparations earlier and training, Magwaza is confident his team will do well in the tournament.
“When you enter into any tournament you’re looking into doing well and also looking into winning the title if we do well according to our game plan. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan, probably you will meet or come across a very tough opponent and at the end of the day you either win or lose,” said Magwaza.
Zimbabwe will play their second round of matches today, however at the time of publication the fixtures were yet to be revealed.
The Zimbabwe women’s B-team began their journey with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of South Africa at Christian Brothers College.
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