Namibia lost their first match of the Nations Cup Netball Tournament 47-55 to Papua New Guinea in Singapore on Monday.
The Namibian team was behind 30-20 at halftime but managed to come back in the second half winning the fourth quarter 18-12 but could not hold out for a win.
“We had a very good game, it was quite physical. We really enjoyed it – it was a good game. We improved especially in the last quarter,” Namibian captain Jatjinda Kambatuku said.
“We haven’t really played any international matches so I'm very happy with this one. Tomorrow against Malaysia we are going to go out as hard as we can to win it,” she added.
Malaysia lost their opening match of the tournament to newcomers Fiji 61-37.
Yati Akhtar Mahtar, the captain of Malaysia said the match against Fiji had been tough.
“I think we didn’t have enough energy on court and were not prepared enough for this tournament,” Mahtar said.
“We will try to improve for the other matches and tomorrow against Namibia we are targeting a win,” she added.
Malaysia are ranked 23rd in the world while Namibia 24th.
In the other match played on Monday, Singapore beat Sri Lanka 74-36 and are leading the log with the best goal percentage. Fiji are second followed by Papua New Guinea.
Namibia are fourth followed by Malaysia and Sri Lanka who are fifth and sixth respectively.