Sport

Netball coach optimistic despite slow start

Kabelo Boranabi | Wednesday August 15, 2018 14:00

 

The team has lost its two opening games at the African region qualifiers held in the Zambian capital, Lusaka.
The local girls went down on the host, Zambia 50-43 in the opening game after committing a number of unforced errors in the defensive third.  The local girls tried to come back in to the game, but with local fans on their side, Zambia managed to win the game on Monday afternoon. 
On Tuesday, Botswana suffered a huge 52-28 defeat to north-eastern neighbours, Zimbabwe.  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 half-time. The local girls tried to stage a come back, but their opponents proved too good on the day. Despite a much inspired performance in the final quarter, Botswana were let down by their conversion as they missed chances.
Speaking to the Zambian journalists after the Zimbabwean game, Botswana coach, Dorretti Badenhorst admitted that the chances of progressing to next year's World Cup were slim but remain. 'They were the better team on the day, they kept possession. They scored mostly from their centre passes, which we couldn't. We couldn't keep up to their psychical presence. We also lost the game to ourselves as we failed to stick to the game plan.'
'The chances are very slim now, but we have to talk to the girls and regroup for the next games. At the end of the day it is not just about one tournament, we still have to prepare for the future there are a lot of youngsters in this Botswana team and we have to invest in them. There is still hope for the team and we will never lose hope,' she said.  
Six teams are competing for the two World Cup spots with South Africa and Malawi already through by virtue of being in the World's top 10 ranked teams. Botswana will face regional powerhouse, Uganda tomorrow before taking on Kenya on Friday. The final match will be against Namibia on Saturday. Botswana has reached the World Cup finals on two occasions in 2007 and 2011.

The team has lost its two opening games at the African region qualifiers held in the Zambian capital, Lusaka.The local girls went down on the host, Zambia 50-43 in the opening game after committing a number of unforced errors in the defensive third. 

The local girls tried to come back in to the game, but with local fans on their side, Zambia managed to win the game on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, Botswana suffered a huge 52-28 defeat to north-eastern neighbours, Zimbabwe.  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 half-time. The local girls tried to stage a come back, but their opponents proved too good on the day.

Despite a much inspired performance in the final quarter, Botswana were let down by their conversion as they missed chances.Speaking to the Zambian journalists after the Zimbabwean game, Botswana coach, Dorretti Badenhorst admitted that the chances of progressing to next year's World Cup were slim but remain.

'They were the better team on the day, they kept possession. They scored mostly from their centre passes, which we couldn't. We couldn't keep up to their psychical presence. We also lost the game to ourselves as we failed to stick to the game plan.'

'The chances are very slim now, but we have to talk to the girls and regroup for the next games. At the end of the day it is not just about one tournament, we still have to prepare for the future there are a lot of youngsters in this Botswana team and we have to invest in them. There is still hope for the team and we will never lose hope,' she said.  

Six teams are competing for the two World Cup spots with South Africa and Malawi already through by virtue of being in the World's top 10 ranked teams.

Botswana will face regional powerhouse, Uganda tomorrow before taking on Kenya on Friday. The final match will be against Namibia on Saturday. Botswana has reached the World Cup finals on two occasions in 2007 and 2011.