Wednesday, August 2
•Zimbabwe 68-40 Singapore
•Sri Lanka 60-56 Barbados
•Wales 56-73 Uganda
•Jamaica 89-26 Trinidad & Tobago
•South Africa 48-48 New Zealand
Thursday, August 3
•Australia Vs England
•Wales Vs Trinidad & Tobago
•Fiji Vs Scotland
•Jamaica Vs New Zealand
•South Africa Vs Uganda, 5pm
•Tonga Vs Malawi
Group G
- Jamaica -8
- New Zealand -7
- South Africa -5
- Uganda -4
- Wales -0
- Trinidad & Tobago -0
Uganda Women’s National Netball Team, the She Cranes, will face hosts South Africa in their last group game of the second preliminary round of the 2023 Netball World Cup.
The She Cranes come into this fixture with a place to the semifinals out of their reach.
This is so despite the team’s win over Wales, which came off the back of a defeat against Jamaica.
In this round, the top two teams from each of the two groups advance to the semi-finals, while the rest play classifications.
The classifications also have a format that the four teams that finish 3rd and 4th in both groups, battle for positions 5-8.
Uganda will now finish either 3rd (with a win Vs South Africa) or 4th with a defeat – Meaning they will play 5-8th classification games whatever the result on Thursday.
Malawi and Tonga who are finishing 5th and 6th irrespectively in the other group, will be Uganda’s opponents.
In the 73-56 win over Wales, the She Cranes were led by Mary Nuba Cholhok who scored 42 goals.
“Our execution was okay today but South Africa will be a tough ride though we have to keep going,” said Nuba.
“If we lead, we don’t have to give away cheap goals, we have to be patient with the ball. We have to win more balls, and we have to avoid aerial balls because that’s what they (South Africa) will want to capitalise on.”
South Africa’s only loss in this campaign came against Jamaica, a side that beat them 67-49 in the previous group at the first preliminary level.
Unlike Uganda, South Africa still have an outside chance of making the semis – They must beat She Cranes by a good margin and hope New Zealand fall to Jamaica.
The SPAR Proteas come into this game after a 48-48 thrilling draw with New Zealand, a result that kept the hosts semifinals chances alive.
South Africa beat Uganda 67-40 the last times these two teams met a World Cup stage – 2019 Liverpool; then, Stella Oyella and Peace Proscovia’s 27 and 13 goals proved not enough.
The She Cranes got their revenge last year at the Commonwealth games in Birmingham, wining 54-48, thanks to goals from Mary Nuba (31) and Irene Eyalu (21).
South Africa will continue to be without GS Lenize Potgieter who withdrew from the playing team due to a knee injury.
Elmeré van der Berg who scored 22 goals against New Zealand, has been an able replacement and will be set to give the defence of Uganda a huge run for their money.
There will be a huge battle between Uganda’s best player so far at the tournament Maggie Baagala (doubtful, sickness) and South Africa captain Bongi Msomi in centre.
But Mary Nuba also faces a huge task against South Africas defenders Karla Pretorius (GD) and Phumza Maweni (GK).
Ugandan duo of Norah Lunkuse and Christine Namulumba have been replaced by Sarah Nakiyunga and Viola Asingo on the roster, with these permanent changes made before the win over Wales.
The new rules allowed teams to take up to three reserves to the World Cup and replace players with them in case of injuries or sickness among others.
How To Watch – The Match will be live on SuperSport Variety 3 and Grandstand (on DStv)
