Netball Team Misses Out On The World Cup
Correspondent | Monday August 20, 2018 13:04
Team Botswana missed out on the prestigious tournament that is to be held in Liverpool, England after managing only two wins from five games losing three in their campaign, placing the team in position four just above Kenya and Namibia.
The team started the games on a rather low pace as they lost their first three games in the qualifiers. In the first game, the local girls went down to the host, Zambia 50-43 in the opening game of the qualifiers.
In the second game of the qualifiers against Zimbabwe, Botswana suffered a huge 52-28 defeat to north-eastern neighbours. Zimbabweans took a 11-1 lead just after the first quarter. The opponents were good on transition going forward finding loopholes in the local girls’ defence as they increased their lead to 23-11 at the half time.
The local girls tried to come back into the game but their opponents proved too good on the day. Despite a much inspired performance in the final, Botswana were lead down by their conversion as they missed most of their chances at goal.
The loss against Zimbabwe set up a make it or break it tie against regional powerhouse Uganda on Thursday. In the game, the She Cranes showed their superiority as they beat the local girls 65-35. The loss drew curtain down on the team’s hopes of reaching the World Cup finals for the third time.
The Botswana team however redeemed their pride against Kenya as they managed to secure a resounding 55-27 lead against the East Africans. In the last game of the qualifiers, Botswana faced the western neighbours, Namibia on Saturday. The two sides came into the game after recording single victories that both came against Kenya.
The Saturday did not disappoint but it was the local girls who took control of the game from the start. Towards the end, the Namibians fought back but it was a little too late as Botswana took a slim 56-53 win.
Six teams were competing for the two spots left at the World Cup as South Africa and Malawi have already secured by their berths by virtue of being in the World’s top 10 ranked teams. The two teams are joined by Uganda and Zimbabwe who finished first and second in the qualifiers. Botswana has reached the World Cup finals two occasions in 2007 and 2011.