Monday, July 31
•Zimbabwe 45-62 Barbados
•Australia 76-37 Scotland
•Fiji 48-62 Malawi
•Wales 34-83 New Zealand
•Sri Lanka 52-55 Singapore
•Jamaica 61-49 Uganda
•Tonga 46-72 England
•South Africa 69-28 Trinidad & Tobago
Uganda Women’s National Netball teams, the She Cranes, started their second preliminary round with a loss against Jamaica at the ongoing 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.
The 49-61 loss doesn’t come as a shocking result, especially against a World Number Four who has already proved to be a strong contender to win this year’s World Cup title.
But the defeat all but ends the She Cranes’ realistic chances of reaching the semifinals for the first time.
The She Cranes outscored Jamaica 28-23 in the second half, but the blitz was in vain as first half errors proved costly.
Fred Mugerwa’s charges, who will take a rest on Tuesday, will hope to make amends when they face off with new group opponents Wales on Wednesday before hosts South Africa on Thursday.
The top two teams in the group that also has defending champions New Zealand, will qualify for the semifinals.
After a slow start where the She Cranes trailed 5-9, the Girls fought back to close the gap as the first quarter ended 15-12 in Jamaica’s favour, in a spell where Mary Nuba’s missed four attempts proved costly.
Jamaica continued to dominate Uganda’s defence with Jhanielle Fowler getting the better of Haniisha Muhameed and the Sunshine Girls were 38-21 up at the long break.
Uganda, who had made a couple of errors in the first half, improved and benefited from Jamaica’s misplaced passes to slowly build a come back in the third quarter they won 16-11 thanks to a couple of changes including the introduction of Stella Nanfuka and Shadiah Nassanga at GK and GA respectively.
Uganda continued to ask Jamaica plenty of questions, played with more defiance but remained far behind.
Spurred on by a supportive crowd, the She Cranes who left everything on court, will feel the gap away from the top sides is closing despite the loss.
Mary Nuba scored 28 goals while Nassanga came off the bench to add 15.
Margaret Baagala made 17 assists in a game she struggled against a quicker and physical side.
