Local chess powerhouses Dominican Convent High School Harare and Lomagundi College flew the country's flag high when faring well at this year's Alfa Tours and Safaris Schools Chess Challenge in Windhoek, Namibia.
Dominican Convent led the way as they scooped gold at the first edition of the Alfa Safari Tour Zimbabwe-Namibia Chess Challenge.
The three-day event was held at Jan Mohr Secondary School in Windhoek and had at least 20 teams, which included the hosts Jan Mohr, Windhoek Central, Ella du Plessis, Waldorf, Gammams, Lomagundi College, and the winners battling for silverware.
Convent Girls A team comprising Rumbidzai Mawire, Ropafadzo Chikwanda, and Genevieve Moyo won the ultimate prize after registering a clean sheet of seven wins from as many games.
Mawire won the individual accolade ahead of Lomagundi College's Joice Ndemera.
Ndemera's team was complemented by Chloe Jaisi, Nancy Mukuku, and Pamela Munyai while the Convent Girls B team which won the silver medal was made up of Crystal Chaitezvi, Natalie Karani, and Shinette Ndovorwi.
They picked silver after amassing six out of seven points.
Lomagundi College whose boys' team had Marcel Muzvidzwa, Dante Mahaka, Anashe Tsikayi, Richard Kanyama, and Desire Chipenzi finished fifth behind Dominican Convent A and B, Jan Mohr, and Walford Private School.
Despite their fifth-place finish, Lomagundi teacher in charge of chess Maurice Mutowembwa said they were happy with the experience and thanked the parents and all the corporates who facilitated their participation.
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"We are happy with such an experience and we were sponsored by the parents, Tawford Investments, and Smilex Tissues," said Mutowembwa.
Dominican Convent coach Lewis Kahoba was left purring after his team's flawless performance.
"I'm so happy with how our team performed, the competition was tough as we faced top teams in the country, but the girls were resilient and showed great character and desire to win it.
"So going forward we will keep training even harder and we are very grateful to our Dominican Convent school leadership and parents for their continued support especially financially for us to attend competitions such as this," said Kahoba.
Dominican Convent and Lomagundi players and technical teams had the privilege of meeting the Zimbabwean Ambassador to Namibia, Melody Chaurura who hosted a luncheon for them at the Zimbabwe embassy in Namibia. There was also some time for some fun as the two schools also proceeded to Swakopmund where they visited the sea and the desert.
