BY SPORTSCAST WRITER
PRETORIA – Zimbabwe has qualified for next year’s Netball World Cup in South Africa after beating neighbours Zambia 59-41 on Saturday in a play-off match of a qualification competition in Pretoria.
It will be a first World Cup for the Zimbabwe side, nicknamed the Germs, following their debut appearance at the Liverpool edition in 2019.
Next year’s World Cup in Cape Town will be the first to be hosted by an African country.
Four African teams will compete in the tournament. Two qualified automatically, South Africa as hosts, and Uganda on superior rankings. Malawi and Zimbabwe are the two qualifying teams from the Pretoria contest.
In earlier games in the qualifiers, Zimbabwe defeated Namibia and Tanzania but lost to South Africa and Malawi to be left needing an outright win over Zambia to seal a place in Cape Town next July and August.
