Women beach volleyball team chases Olympic dream

Sport
The Zimbabwe women beach volleyball team will be looking to keep their hopes of qualifying for a maiden Olympic Games appearance when they compete for the second round qualifier set for Lido Beach, Entebbe, Uganda, in two weeks’ time.

BY SPORTS REPORTER

The Zimbabwe women beach volleyball team will be looking to keep their hopes of qualifying for a maiden Olympic Games appearance when they compete for the second round qualifier set for Lido Beach, Entebbe, Uganda, in two weeks’ time.

Zimbabwe progressed to the next round of the qualifiers after finishing as runners-up in the women category at the sub-zonal tournament in Maputo, Mozambique, early last month.

Nyengeterai Guyo, Progress Gasa, Viola Muchaona and Media Mafuta make up the women’s team seeking to make history for the country, which is relatively new to the sport.

The team has been drawn in Group D together with Egypt, Mozambique, Guinea Conakry and the hosts Uganda for the event slated for March 9 to 14 2020.

Teams have been placed in four pools of five where the top two-ranked sides from each group will proceed to the final phase of Olympic qualification.

In the final phase there will be two groups of four teams each, with the top two ranked from each pool qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Other Southern Africa teams to have made the Continental Cup are South Africa and Zambia.

The Zimbabwe Under-19 side has qualified for the 2013 World Championships, which remains the biggest achievement since the sport started in the country in 2009.

The national Under-21 and Under-23 teams qualified for the continental finals in 2017 as the sport continues to grow in the country.