Curtain comes down on netball league

Nelson Direng
Correspondent | Friday November 26, 2010 00:00

 

The battle for the top prize at the BONA courts will be between the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Cats, the University of Botswana (UB) Crystals, Notwane and the northern region's only representative, TASC. BONA spokesperson, Bakwena Oitsile, said the season has been predictable as the four clubs were favourites to make the semi-final. He explained that the incorporation of Division B clubs into the mainstream league has made it easy for traditional giants to proceed to the last four.

He said BONA was forced to group all teams under one league due to a tight budget. 'The constitution nonetheless allows us to have different divisions and if at all we get substantial amounts next season, we will have two leagues,' he said.

In tomorrow's semi-finals, Notwane face defending champions, BDF Cats while UB Crystals play TASC. There will be a losers' final before the final later in the day. BDF Cats' coach, Onkabetse Kesekang, said his team has prepared well for the finals. He said there is a high possibility of them meeting fellow army side, TASC, in the final. '(If we meet), the final between us and TASC is not going to be easy because they, too, have been practising hard for this game,' he said.

UB Crystals' coach, Abednico Chetelo, said he is not happy with the way his side has prepared. He said preparations have been difficult because most of his players are university students who were writing their exams.

Some of his players are based in other parts of the country, hence the team had little time to train together.

'What we are relying on are tactics more than physique because our team generally has tactically good players,' he said.

Meanwhile, TASC is expected to field its national team players, among them 2009 Zone VI mid-court player of the year, Ogone Gabaratane, the towering Violet Moabi and defender Kelebogile Mangole. Notwane will not be an easy opponent as they have potent players like national team vice captain, Kagisano Mawela, talented 19-year-old shooter, Tumisang Bagidi, Thulaganyo Ketshabile and former national team captain, Ntebo Mocuminyane.

The semi-finals kick-off at 8am. The losers' finals will be at 2pm with the final slated for 4pm. The final will be aired live on Btv. The league winner walks away with P15, 000.