Namibia stumbles in Zambia
JESSE JACKSON KAURAISA
Namibia’s national netball team performed way below expectations at the just-ended African Women’s Netball Championship in Zambia.
The team only managed to win one of the six matches they played at the competition.
They lost their last game of the competition 76-52 against Zambia on Sunday afternoon.
In the match against Botswana on Saturday, a sloppy display by Namibia’s senior netball team cost them their second win.
Namibia lost the match 56-59 at the championship hosted by the Netball Association of Zambia in Lusaka from 13 to 18 August. This championship is also acted as the 2019 Netball World Cup qualifiers.
The Desert Jewels have now lost five of their six matches at the games, winning only one.
On Saturday, Namibia started the match well, setting no foot wrong in the first quarter as both teams played a high-tempo game, which ended 16-15 in Namibia’s favour.
Shortly into the second quarter, sloppy play by the Namibians who failed to capitalise on the interception they won after leading brought Botswana back into the game as they forced Namibia into making errors to end the quarter 28-29 in Botswana’s favour.
In the third quarter, Botswana came back even more composed and ran havoc on the Desert Jewels for a 40-46 scoreline.
In the last quarter of the match, the Namibian team tried their level best to bring down the score, but their long passes were largely intercepted by Botswana who capitalised on whatever scoring opportunity they got for the final score of 56-59.
Namibia lost 47-86 to Malawi on Friday, 44-61 to Zimbabwe on Thursday in their third game of the tournament and 47-72 to Uganda in their opening match on Tuesday. The Desert Jewels won their second match against Kenya (54-34) on Wednesday.
Six countries - Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Uganda and Kenya - are battling it out for ranking points as well as a place at next year’s World Cup.
Malawi, who already qualified for the World Cup, competed at the event for match fitness as well as ranking points.
-Additional reporting by Nampa
Namibia’s national netball team performed way below expectations at the just-ended African Women’s Netball Championship in Zambia.
The team only managed to win one of the six matches they played at the competition.
They lost their last game of the competition 76-52 against Zambia on Sunday afternoon.
In the match against Botswana on Saturday, a sloppy display by Namibia’s senior netball team cost them their second win.
Namibia lost the match 56-59 at the championship hosted by the Netball Association of Zambia in Lusaka from 13 to 18 August. This championship is also acted as the 2019 Netball World Cup qualifiers.
The Desert Jewels have now lost five of their six matches at the games, winning only one.
On Saturday, Namibia started the match well, setting no foot wrong in the first quarter as both teams played a high-tempo game, which ended 16-15 in Namibia’s favour.
Shortly into the second quarter, sloppy play by the Namibians who failed to capitalise on the interception they won after leading brought Botswana back into the game as they forced Namibia into making errors to end the quarter 28-29 in Botswana’s favour.
In the third quarter, Botswana came back even more composed and ran havoc on the Desert Jewels for a 40-46 scoreline.
In the last quarter of the match, the Namibian team tried their level best to bring down the score, but their long passes were largely intercepted by Botswana who capitalised on whatever scoring opportunity they got for the final score of 56-59.
Namibia lost 47-86 to Malawi on Friday, 44-61 to Zimbabwe on Thursday in their third game of the tournament and 47-72 to Uganda in their opening match on Tuesday. The Desert Jewels won their second match against Kenya (54-34) on Wednesday.
Six countries - Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Uganda and Kenya - are battling it out for ranking points as well as a place at next year’s World Cup.
Malawi, who already qualified for the World Cup, competed at the event for match fitness as well as ranking points.
-Additional reporting by Nampa
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