Desert Jewels off to a winning start

Namibia’s senior netball team, the Debmarine Desert Jewels, opened their campaign at this year’s African Netball Cup with an impressive win against Zimbabwe at the University of Botswana in Gaborone on Tuesday.
The 13th edition of the prestigious continental tournament is being held in Botswana from 26 November to 06 December 2023.
In their opening match of the championship, Namibia took the lead against one of their toughest opponents, Zimbabwe, who they led 10-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Zimbabwe had a better second quarter as they won most of their turnover goals to level the score at 20-20 at halftime.
The Namibian players once more pulled themselves up with clinical passing which saw them capitalising on all their turnovers to once again take a four-point lead of 32-28 at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter saw Namibia controlling possession despite their opponents forcing them to make errors. The Desert Jewels stuck to their guns as they controlled possession in the last minutes of the games and converted most of their opportunities for a 45-36 final score.
In an interview, after the match, Debmarine Desert Jewels head coach Julene Meyer said her team had an excellent win and a strong start to the tournament.
“We had a great performance from the players and we would like to take this momentum to the next game against Zambia,” she said.
Meyer added that despite enjoying the competition opening match they are well aware of their upcoming opponents and looking forward to their next encounter.
The 2023 Africa Netball Cup will see South Africa, the defending champions, fighting against the competition’s greatest netball players from across the continent with the hope of retaining the title they won in Windhoek in 2022. Other nations looking forward to putting their hands on the trophy are host Botswana, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Burundi.
Namibia’s next match at the competition takes place Wednesday afternoon against Zambia.
(NAMPA)
HK/AS
(NAMPA)