Botswana National Softball Team will travel to Pretoria, South Africa, to compete for the lone available spot for the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup. Botswana will square off against Kenya and South Africa with the winner advancing to the World Cup representing the African continent.
“We will have to qualify and continue to compete at global level,” Tebogo Johannes, Botswana’s team leader, told the The Business Weekly and Review. “We want to qualify for the World Cup and ensure that we bring a medal from there this time around.”
Botswana is training hard before the opening day of the tournament. “Preparations for the qualifiers are going well. The team is currently in a training camp, which is their third since last year. The camp started on 28 January and will end on 10 February when the team departs for Pretoria.”
Asked why the team is leaving for South Africa only a day before the competition, Johannes answered: “We are leaving late because the climatic conditions of Pretoria and Gaborone are more or less the same and therefore there is no need to leave early for acclimatisation. It is better for the team to continue training hard in Botswana and have more friendly games.”
The squad is in good condition to face the tournament. Johannes said the players are “above normal” in their fitness conditions, and that they are planning another test just before the team departs.
Johannes is confident that the long break due to the pandemic has not affected the team. “In terms of cohesion and rhythm, I would say the team is fine because about 60 percent of them have been together since 2017 and have played two world championships as a unit,” he said.
Botswana, Kenya and South Africa will start the tournament with a double-round-robin. The top team in the standings will advance directly to the final on Saturday at 15:00, while second- and third-place teams will face off in the semi-finals at noon on Saturday.
