Namibia’s senior netball team, the Desert Jewels, yesterday again found the going tough against a fast and physical Zimbabwean side, going down 38-57 in their fourth match of the ongoing Debmarine Pent Series Netball Tournament.
Namibia had on Wednesday lost 43-64 to Malawi and going into yesterday’s encounter, were hoping to dust themselves off with a win against Zimbabwe, but the dominant Zimbabwean side came well prepared for the challenge at hand.
The Namibians, which somewhat struggled with keeping up with the Zimbabwean pace and durability, lost all four quarters of the match, as they trailed 7-15 in the opening quarter; 20-30 in the second quarter; and 26-46 in the third quarter.
The fourth and final quarter saw the Zimbabwean side maintain their dominance and impressive pace as they cruised to a commanding win over the host nation.
In the post-match interview, Namibian head coach Julene Meyer again blamed the defeat on their unimpressive conversion rate in front of goal, saying her girls also struggled to find their rhythm and could not match their opponents’ speed.
“Our conversion rate was again poor today; we should have done better. But it’s a stepping stone and a big learning curve for us as a team and going forward, we will strive to improve. As you could see, today we could not find our rhythm and Zimbabwe was also very physical and fast as well,” she said.
Namibia will today square off against Uganda in their last match of the five-day tournament.
They will again face another tough assignment with Uganda, who defeated them 49-28 at the Spar Netball Challenge held in March this year in Cape Town, South Africa.
– ohembapu@nepc.com.na