The Zambezi Cheetahs are through to the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup Sevens tournament, but will have to do a lot of soul searching if they entertain any hopes of booking a ticket to the Sevens World Cup next year.

The Cheetahs eased through their initial group games, hardly breaking a sweat as they beat Mauritius and Botswana by identical 21-7 score lines.

Another easy 17-5 victory over a youthful Senegal side followed but the team was severely exposed by group winners Madagascar who inflicted the team’s first defeat.

The game ended 19-12 in favour of Madagascar.

The biggest takeaways from the opening day of the Africa Cup was the apparent lack of competition, fitness, killer instinct and most importantly the team’s failure to employ single basics.

Ball handling was particularly pathetic.

Gaffer Gilbert Nyamutsamba tried rotating his charges throughout the four games, but the lack of fitness was very apparent in the Cheetahs 19-12 defeat to Madagascar.

With Madagascar and host Uganda looking impressive, after finishing the day unbeaten in their group games, and Zambia also looking well-oiled, Nyamutsamba is sure have a lot of things to ponder as the tournament enters its final day on Saturday.

Action resumes Saturday at 10AM (Zimbabwe time), as the tournaments enters into the finals.