Netball side ready for Uganda test
Thato Kala | Monday May 26, 2014 11:31
Abednico Chitale’s charges started perfectly on Friday when they came back from behind to narrowly beat neighbours Zimbabwe 39-38. They were unlucky to lose by a goal to Kenya on the same day.
Botswana came out of the blocks on Saturday and thumped hapless Swaziland 89-19 in a one-sided match.
Chitale knows the opening three matches have been relatively easy, but Uganda sits at the apex of junior netball in the competition and will be out to maintain their unbeaten run.
The East Africans have been ruthless, humiliating both their first two opponents - Zimbabwe and Swaziland.
Yet the galaxy of Ugandan stars does not intimidate Chitale and his trump card, Boikanyo Selogetso.
“I saw Uganda play but we cannot press panic buttons because they were playing an opponent (Zimbabwe) that did not play well. They are a good side so we need to carefully plan how we can beat them,” Chitale told Monitor Sport. He said that anything is possible in a game.
Selogetso, who has been outstanding for Botswana, has not watched the Ugandans play but believes they have enough arsenal to beat them.
The UB Crystals starlet has been in devastating form since the start of the tournament and carries the country’s hopes to book a final berth.
The tournament is being played on a round robin basis and the top two teams will battle it out for the title on Thursday.
“I am happy and proud about the support we are getting as a team. I feel I have improved on my game quite a lot. I did not watch Uganda play (Zimbabwe) but I believe we will get there; we will just follow the coach’s instructions until the end,” she said.
Against Swaziland, the sharp-shooting Selogetso was played as goal attack.
Chitale explained his decision: “The reason was that we needed more goals; we needed a holding shooter (Tara Matija) to split their attention. We needed to use much space and variation rather than having a standing shooter”.
Kenya’s 33-34 loss to Namibia on Saturday could work in Botswana’s favour.
In other matches today, Namibia take on Uganda at 10am while Kenya play struggling Swaziland two hours later.