ZIMBABWE has made a golden start to the African Union Sports Council Region Five Youth Darts Championships after the Under 18 Girls team clinched gold this Thursday at the regional games underway in Mazowe.

The young queens of the oche battled through intense matchups to finish top of the group with 11 points, after beating all their opponents, including a nail-biting tiebreaker win against South Africa.

The girls beat South Africa 9-8 to add on to wins against Botswana, Namibia and Eswatini.

“We are proudly representing Zimbabwe and we are eyeing gold medals for our country,” a team member said.

‘It would be an honor for us as the youth team to clinch the crucial medals and win for our country,” another added.

“It is exciting representing Zimbabwe and we are hoping for the best.”

“We are happy with the medal, it has boosted our morale. We are hoping that with this start tomorrow, we will clinch more medals as we will be participating in the singles and doubles,” Team Zimbabwe Manager, Jane Mushininga stated.

Meanwhile, in the boys’ category, Zimbabwe fell just short of bronze after finishing fourth on six points.

Team Namibia won the Under 18 boys clash, amassing 15 points, followed by South Africa with 12 and Botswana on nine.

After the teams’ events this Thursday, battle lines are drawn for epic battles in the singles and doubles categories set to premiere this Friday.