Youthful netball team named for Singapore Cup
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday October 11, 2019 10:50
A technical team led by Oteng Masole and Sthulile Mlotshwa has included five players in the 12-member squad from the Dinaletsana squad that participated at the 2017 Netball Youth World Cup held in Gaborone.
The team also has former Botswana National Sport Commission (BSNC) junior sports woman of the year nominee, Tumisang Bagidi.
The technical team’s aim is to refresh the team with a new-look senior netball team after it failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup held in Liverpool, England. Botswana finished fourth at the Africa region World Cup qualifiers last year in Zambia. The M1 Cup is a ranking tournament and will help the local team to improve its rankings. In two years, the team has dropped from 19th to 26th on the rankings.
The team was selected during the Botswana Netball Association (BONA) games held over the Independence Day holiday weekend.
BONA ditched the African Cup M1 Cup, as both tournaments would run concurrently and instead chose to take part in the six-nation competition.
The team will compete against, the host, Singapore, 24th placed Ireland, Namibia (32nd), Papua New Guinea (19th), and Cook Islands (16th) at the OCBC Arena. The team will depart for Singapore on October 18.
They will kick start their campaign with a clash against Cook Islands before a tie against the host, Singapore. In their third match, Botswana will face Papua New Guinea before they take on Namibia while they finish the first round with a clash against Ireland. In 2016, Botswana finished third at the tournament.
Full team list:
Defence:
Fatima Dinoh (Jungle Queens), Francinah Eyman, Maipelo Mosotho (UB Crystals), Ntebogang Motlakaloso (Prisons),
Attack:
Cheludo David (TASC), Tumisang Bagidi, Kempho Ngongorego (both Notwane)
Mid-Court:
Boikanyo Selogetso, Natasha Siku, Barati Phesudi (both Notwane), Kgomotso Matibini (Jungle Queens), Gagotheko Tshelametsi (BDF Cats)