Namibia’s Desert Jewels began their quest to qualify for the 2023 Netball World Cup on a high note when they defeated Tanzania 54-40 in the opening match of their qualifiers played in Pretoria, South Africa yesterday.
Namibia are in Pool A against South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
The Jewels, under new coach Mary Waya, started off greatly and continued the momentum throughout, winning all four quarters: first 16-11, second 30-2, third 42-33, fourth 54-40.
Speaking after the match, Waya said she was satisfied with the way the team played, but said they can still do better.
“The team performed well. We stuck to our game plan, and because we were delayed by the car when we were coming from the hotel where we were sleeping, I think that affected us. But we thank God we got the victory,” she said without providing more info on the car issue.
“You saw the first quarter in the first three minutes; we were leading 5-0. That’s the standard that we want to play and we know it’s the first game, but we will make sure that we improve.”
Heading forward, the coach said she expects the players to be consistent in their performance, adding that they will have to go back and work on some technical issues to ensure they perform well.
“We expect them to be more consistent in ball- handling because I have seen so many ball-drops, and with the catch, I will concentrate on that so that we can have more percentage of balls on our players. And on our shooting, the percentage that they have done today is not the one I wanted, but tomorrow (today), we will see a change,” she said confidently.
Meanwhile, goal attack Anna Kaspar, who scored 36 goals in yesterday’s match to win player of the match, said the victory was of great importance as it helped boost their confidence ahead of today’s encounter against South Africa.
“Yes, we are ready for the next match, and we are going to take it as hard as it is. I think the game boosted our confidence to 95%, and the other 5% will be for us to work on. We look forward to today’s match,” she said.
Namibia will face the host nation at 18h00, before they take on Zimbabwe tomorrow at 12h00.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na