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2013 world of sport in restrospect

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By Chris Mutseyekwa

SOCCER continued to be the major highlight in our sport although, boxing, cricket and rugby provided their own share of entertainment.
As usual the level of expectation in soccer was set by the usual pall-bearers, Dynamos, when for the third year in succession they were bundled out of Africa’s club Champion League before the group phase.
And these are the perennial champions of Zimbabwe.
No wonder our slide in international ranking now puts us well outside the top hundred.
The standard of domestic football was at best mediocre with no outstanding team.
The log at the end of the season told it all.
Three teams which all seemed to be struggling at a time when champions were supposed to stand out , were running neck-and-neck until Dynamos might consider themselves to be lucky to have snatched the title for the third year in succession on goal difference on the last day.
Harare City supporters still believe if Silas Songani had been present in their last match of the season, their team would have beaten CAPS United and they and not Dynamos win the league title instead.
Not far away from the top three were six teams all fighting to avoid the already relegated three.
The closeness of the teams on the log shows there was not much difference between the top and bottom teams.
Kelvin Kaindu of Highlanders might have saved his skin by grabbing the prestigious Mbada Diamonds Cup from arch rivals Dynamos after beating a stubborn How Mine in the final.
On the international scene, there really is nothing to write home about.
I have never had much faith with the present ZIFA since they stripped Norman Mapeza of his stewardship of the national team.
And when they eventually settled for Dieter Pagels, a character of dubious soccer credentials, to be the head coach, I merely helplessly said to myself: “there go ZIFA again.”
The national team performed dismally as confirmed by our continued slide on the international logo.
However, every cloud has a silver lining.
Pagels with his so-called ‘tiki-taka’ brand of football unearthed a gem from Harare City by the name of Silas Songani.
With all due respect to Tawanda Muparati, many agree with me that, the Dynamos linkman was extremely lucky to beat Songani.
All the same we wish Pagel’s successor Ian ‘Dibango’ Gorowa all the success in the CHAN competition.
On the cricket front, Zimbabwe blew hot and cold.
Our cricket team were whitewashed in all forms of the game in the West Indies, but quickly regained some measure of credibility with a rare 2-1 series win in the One Day Internationals(ODIs) against Bangladesh on home ground.
May be one of their most outstanding achievements was to beat Pakistan in a Test match drawing the series 1-1.
This went a long way to atone for the earlier whitewash in the five ODIs against a visiting Indian side.
Earlier in the year, racism had subtly raised its ugly head again when David Coltart as Minister of Sport gave a directive that would limit the number of blacks that would be eligible to be team selectors.
The directive would require selectors to have experience that would have been gained when Test cricket was still an exclusive privilege of the whites.
Remember 2003 when cricket authorities issued a directive forcing selectors to include blacks in the team and whites led by Andy Flower and poor Henry Olonga wore black armbands in protest in a World Cup game against Namibia.
They fooled the world by claiming that they were protesting the ‘death of democracy’, but those aware of the goings on in cricket in the country knew better.
This year it was gratifying to see how black players like, Panyangara, Vitori, Utseya, Masakadza and Chatara etc have flourished.
Later, Flower was to confess that the mastermind of their protest was David Coltart.
This is the same Coltart who led a delegation that once advised England not to fulfil its World Cup fixture in Zimbabwe.
And this is the very Coltart, now a former minister, whose directive that would have removed blacks from the selectors’ panel was rejected.
Rugby continued to be a very popular sport in schools, but remains nowhere near soccer in popularity.
Lack of corporate support has led to talent drain as many gifted local players have found homes in countries like Scotland, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
However, this did not stop our Rugby Sevens from being invited to an international rugby circuit in Port Elizabeth where they competed with counties like England, New Zealand and Samoa.
The 15-aside team have just participated in a Tri-Nations Tournament in Namibia, where they beat Kenya, but narrowly lost to Namibia.
On this showing they are confident of qualifying for the Rugby World Cup finals next year, when they will be joined by Madagascar in a round robin tournament.
Zimbabwe is renowned for producing great boxers like Tar Baby, Shackie Tiger Mupoto, Langton ‘Schoolboy’ Tinago, Stix Macleod and Proud ‘Kilimanjaro’ Chinembiri, among others.
I still remember ‘Kilimanjaro’ mauling the Ghanaian, Adam Mensa at Rufaro Stadium in a heavyweight showdown.
Where are these shows now?
Their absence does not mean there is a dearth of boxers in the country.
What the country lacks are promoters prepared to stage big fights and this has forced some pugilists to look for promoters outside the country.
This year is remembered for how Charles Manyuchi had to travel all the way to Burkina Faso to successfully wrestle the African Boxing Union (ABU) welterweight title.
He was even more impressive when he successfully defended his title against a former champion from Ghana.
Another major highlight was only last month when Victor Moyo became the World Boxing Federation (WBF) Africa heavyweight champion.
He gave South African champion Osborn Machimane a hiding he will never forget.
Moyo is based in South Africa while Manyuchi is based in Zambia.

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