South Africa had to settle for sixth place on the Netball World Cup rankings after a two-goal loss to Uganda. The She-Cranes led from the off and put the Proteas under intense pressure throughout the 5th/6th place playoff match for the 49-47 victory. Uganda claimed the fifth-place ranking and dashed the hopes of the incredible hometown support in Cape Town.
The match was also a straight shootout for the top seed in Africa. Fresh from a huge win over Malawi, Uganda were out of the blocks quickest as they led after the first quarter 12-11. The Proteas fought back in the second quarter, to level the scores at 23-all at half-time.
Uganda made their move after the break, winning the third quarter 16-14 for a two-goal lead. They did not relinquish that lead in the fourth quarter, and with time up on the clock triumphed over the Proteas 49 goals to 47.
“This is so disappointing, there is a few times that we spoke about we want to take the drives and fake the ball when they come hard and play elsewhere and get caught a few times where we actually played into their hands, but I have to say credit to Uganda. They kept possession so well I never seen a match like this where you keep possession, you can win the game so really good to them,” says Bongiwe Msomi, Proteas captain.
Uganda achieved their highest ever world cup finish, at the expense of the host nation but regardless of the sixth-place finish, the world cup can still be seen as a success for South Africa.
“I think the world cup was just fantastic, disappointing now for the girls not to finish top at least being Africa champs and keeping our ranking, but I really think for Netball South Africa and everything that has happened here throughout the world cup. It has been really fantastic the crowd coming out in numbers, we have to really thank them so much because they have been there with us since day one even today so really good world cup, I am hoping everyone really enjoyed it,” Msomi explains.
The Netball World Cup certainly captured the imagination of South Africans and demonstrated just how far youngsters can go in the sport.
