Acting secretary general of the netball association of Tanzania (Chaneta), Rose Mkisi.

Tanzania netball team has been lined up to feature in the qualifying rounds of the World championship in June ahead of the event to be held in Singapore in July next year.

The acting secretary general of the netball association of Tanzania (Chaneta), Rose Mkisi, said the national team should rub shoulders with other African countries to fight for the two slots.

Singapore would play host to fifteen other teams, two from each zone that include Africa, America, Caribbean, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Mkisi said the Tanzania team, which is currently training at Filbert Bayi Secondary School, will maintain their camp while gearing up for the qualifiers.

She says the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) has communicated to CHANETA informing them of the ten countries from the continent that would battle it out for the Singapore World championship berth.

However, the exact date of the qualifiers is yet to be unveiled by IFNA.

Mkisi said the qualifier games are expected to be tough and Tanzania team need to train effectively should they need to make a breakthrough.

Five top ranked teams in the world by IFNA, namely Australia, New Zealand, England, Jamaica and Malawi, are the tournament’s top seeds for the qualifiers in their respective zones.

Mkisi sounded equivocal when asked on the prospect of the national team and the strength of the qualifier opponents.

She said all teams are very strong, but South Africa, Uganda and Botswana are very highly experienced teams and most likely they would dominate the qualifiers.

Gearing up to the qualifiers, CHANETA has lined up a number of international friendlies to gauge the team ahead of the showdown.

She said the international friendlies are of paramount importance to acquaint players with experience and exposure while ascertaining their strengths and weaknesses.