She Cranes scoop silver at the African Netball Championship

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s National Netball team, the She Cranes have scoped a silver medal at the African Netball Championship in Windhoek, Namibia. The She Cranes completed second after pulling off a draw against Malawi in their last game of the competition.

Uganda came from behind to draw 44-44 against a resilient Malawi side. The She Cranes started the game at a low pace losing the first quarter 11-13 to Malawi.

They later pulled back to settle the result before halftime. The She Cranes led half time 23-22. Although Uganda looked like they had pulled back the result, Malawi fought back to command the lead in the quarter 35-32, before She Cranes put up a spirited fight in the last quarter to help the settle the result into a 44-44 draw.

The result helped Uganda to secure a second position below the champions, South Africa. Earlier on, Uganda had lost to South Africa in the seventh game. This was Uganda’s only loss in the championship.

After their last game, the She Cranes captain Stella Oyella said it was a tough game for the She Cranes because they were fighting for the second position.

She said the performance in the African Netball championship would help them in the ranking.

Sarah Namuddu, the assistant national team coach said they approached the last game as a do or die clash because of their quest for the second position.

The She Cranes went into the African Netball championship after completing the pent series with an unbeaten run. The African Netball championship attracted over nine countries including among others hosts Namibia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.

*****

URN