HARARE The Zimbabwe senior mens volleyball squad will miss the 2010 World Cup Championships in Italy after falling 0-3 to neighbours South Africa and hosts Cameroon in the qualifiers of the global showcase held in Yaounde, Cameroon, last weekend.The national side had showed a lot of promise after coming second behind Mauritius in the second round of the qualifiers held in Mozambique two months ago.
But they found the going tough in Cameroon last weekend when they faced tougher and more competitive opponents.
The Artwell Gororo-coached national volleyball side that took part in the recent qualifiers has been the strongest representative team the Zimbabwe Volleyball Association has assembled in recent years.
The side boasted several foreign-based players. Among them were Murraypole Ndlovu, Tawanda Mafuba, Mtabisi Ndlovu, Misheck Mtambirwa and Bruce Mpofu who play in Botswana and the South African-based duo of Stuart Zhuwakinyu and Panashe Chiguta.
But the star-studded Zimbabwe team came unstuck against the powerful West Africans and ran out of ideas against neighbours South Africa to exit from the World Cup.
Tunisia was the first African country to book a place to the global volleyball extravaganza, followed by Egypt as the continental giants fought for the honour of representing Africa in Italy.
The World Championships are set for September 24 to November 10.
Post published in: Zimbabwe Sports News