By UK Correspondent
UK based financial services company, Express Links Money Transfer Tuesday handed the Zimbabwe’s National Netball Team, the Zim Gems a further boost in their ongoing World Cup campaign in Liverpool by paying each member of the squad up to £200 in allowances.
The gesture was in honour of its pledge during the welcome reception for the team before the start of the tournament.
The company handed over £200 to each member of the first team and £100 to the second team and coaching staff.
Express Links money transfer CEO, Peter Pembere expressed their delight in the team and coaching staff.
“The Zim Gems are making us all proud with their conduct and performances here at the tournament and as a fully Zimbabwean company, at Express Links, this is rather beyond corporate social responsibility but rather a call for national duty to support our team in any way we can and it’s a call of duty for us all even in the diaspora to carry on throwing our weight behind national causes for our pride,” he said.
Express Links is one of the successful Zimbabwean owned businesses abroad and offer online real time money transfer services to Africa for corporates, individuals and partners in a secure and reliable way from the UK to countries like Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia among others.
In Zimbabwe, they have partnered with CBZ, CABS and Express Financial Services for instant cash pick up countrywide as well credits to mobile wallets.
Zim Gems captain Perpetua Siyachitema, who has been influential in the team’s explosive start in the finals, expressed gratitude to the company and other sponsors and supporters for their faith in the team.
“We are really humbled by the support we have been getting from the fans and Express Links as well as other sponsors and we are inspired to carry on doing our best and bring some good cheer back home. We are here to compete and we are taking each game with determination and belief,” she said.
The Gems, who are the third best ranked team at the tournament, have lived up to their billing, becoming one of the best supported and exciting squads, with a boisterous crowd of Zimbabweans as well as neutrals.
They have gone about business in their inaugural World Cup campaign through putting up a gritty show with no signs of being overawed by the occasion.
Arguably the surprise packages of the tournament, the Gems kicked off their campaign with an electrifying 79-47 win over Sri Lanka before getting a chastising 37-73 defeat by defending champions Australia.
They closed out their group matches with a rousing performance to beat Northern Ireland, ranked 8thin the world, 51-49 in a show that won them many plaudits and respect to finish second in Group A behind Australia, booking themselves a place in the Preliminary stage two.
On Monday they went down fighting in a 36-79 loss to a solid New Zealand side in a tough encounter at the M&S Bank Arena and will next take on Barbados in their second game of the Preliminary stage two with a win going to be vital to their chances going forward.
Despite that being their second defeat of the tournament, the Gems have been punching well above their weight.
Shooter Joice Takaidza is currently the top scorer at the tournament with 118 closely followed by South Africa’s Leinze Potgieter on 111.
