She Cranes is Africa’s best at netball World Cup
The Uganda national netball team, the She Cranes left a mark at this year’s Netball World Cup after finishing 5th overall, and number one in Africa.
Uganda started off well with a 79- 37 victory over Singapore before falling to New Zealand and later emerging 74- 34 victors against Trinidad and Tobago.
The She Cranes later lost to Jamaica before setting a date with Malawi.
Uganda defeated Malawi 57-46 to advance to the fifth-place playoff against hosts South Africa.
On Sunday She Cranes recorded its best-ever finish at the Netball World Cup when they beat South Africa 49-47 in a tightly contested playoff at the Cape Town International Convention Center on Sunday.
The She Cranes edged the opening quarter 12-11 whereas South Africa took the second quarter with an identical scoreline as the game was square at the halftime break.
Uganda has turned over the first centre pass and racing to a four-goal lead before the hosts could register anything on the scoreboard and by the break, the hosts had only managed to close the gap to just one goal.
The She Cranes threw everything at the home side but the hosts managed to fight back to ensure the game ended 23-23 at half time.
Uganda’s Mary Nuba and and Irene Eyaru were on song throughout the game as they had been throughout the tournament whereas the She Cranes defence of Falidah Kadondi, Muhameed Haniisha and Shaffie Nalwanja also kept the South Africans at bay.
The She Cranes still held a two-goal lead heading into the final two minutes, and they slowed things right down, looking to hold on to possession to wind down the clock.
At the end of the day, Uganda secured a memorable 49-47 victory against hosts South African to ensure the East African nation finished fifth overall and took the number one spot among the African nations.
“The match went the way we wanted it…My last words to the players were that we shouldn’t make the mistakes we made in the first match we played against South Africa because we gave them a lot of respect and because of that they went ahead by many goals. When we tried to catch up with those goals, which we did, by the fourth quarter we were very tired and could not go beyond. So, this time I told them we should start on a very high note and that’s where we should end and today, the game would not be over until it was over with the final whistle. Indeed, this is exactly what they did and we eventually won so I’m very pleased with my girls that they listened to the instructions,” She Cranes coach, Fred Mugerwa said after the game.
