Sports minister Moses Mawere yesterday paid the netball national team a visit prior to the commencement of the Africa Cup qualifier tournament set for 13th August, 2018.

Mawere interacted with the ladies and the technical bench, and offered words of encouragement to the team.

Speaking to the media in Lusaka, Mawere encouraged the coach and his team to work extra hard and emerge victorious in the tournament.

“You will be playing on home soil and you will have more supporters than any other team that will come. I expect good results and qualifying for world cup next year in Liverpool. Do not fear the ranking of other countries but play your own game to win. Your winning is what will elevate netball in the country to a level it used to be in he past,” advised Mawere.

And netball national team coach Charles Zulu expressed confidence in his players.

“My players are fit and ready to fight. They have trained hard and are still making amends where necessary. I’m very lucky none of them has injuries or complaining of other burdening issues. All I’m asking is for people to come in numbers and cheer the ladies so that they have people to play for apart from qualifying for world cup,” Zulu said.

The netball tournament will see top two countries qualify for the world meet, except for Malawi and South Africa that qualified on ranking basis.