Netball

Namibia finished fourth in the Nations Cup Netball Tournament after they lost 52-47 to Malaysia in the playoff on Sunday.

Despite having narrowly beaten Malaysia 44-42 on Tuesday the Namibian team could not repeat the same feat on Sunday.

Both teams got into the match early on but it was the Malaysians who were the ones that were leading 12-11 at the end of the first quarter. They were leading 25-22 at halftime.

Namibia on Saturday put up a great performance but eventually lost their Nations Cup Netball Tournament match against Fiji 60-37 on the final day of the round robin matches in Singapore.

The performance of Namibia was very impressive – attacking and defending with grit and determination. As a result they won the final quarter scoring 13 goals compared to Fiji’s 10. However this was not enough to get them the win as they lost the match in the end.

As a result of the defeat, Namibia made it to the third and fourth place play off on Sunday.

Namibia won their second match at the Nations Cup Netball Tournament currently underway in Singapore when they beat Sri Lanka 77-49 on Thursday.

The Namibians were in control of the match from the beginning and were leading 22-12 after the first quarter.

Namibia were already comfortably ahead at halftime (45-24) thanks to some consistent shooting from youngest team member Nelandre Mostert and the defence working well to block out the 209cm shooter and Sri Lankan Captain Tharjini Sivalignam who had only 51 attempts at goal (48 scored).

Namibia lost their second match of the FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup Netball Tournament when they went down 53-43 to the hosts Singapore on Wednesday evening.

Namibia played with confidence following their narrow 44-42 win over Malaysia on Tuesday night. They looked eager to continue their Asian crusade and also take revenge after losing to the hosts 43-41 in last year’s competition.

It was an evenly matched game with Singapore just managing to keep their nose in front each quarter and notch a few extra goals in the final quarter to give them a comfortable win in the end.

Namibia staged a great comeback to beat Malaysia 44-42 to record their first win at the Nations Cup Netball Tournament in Singapore on Tuesday.

Both Namibia and Malaysia were looking for their first wins after losing their opening matches against Papua New Guinea (47-55) and Fiji (61-37) respectively.

Namibia played their first three quarters with their youngest player, 16-year-old Nelandre Mostert as the goal shooter who was supported by captain Jatjinda Kambatuku.

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.

Namibia will play their first match of the Nations Cup Netball Tournament against Papua New Guinea on Monday in Singapore.

Papua New Guinea are ranked 17 in the world while Namibia are the lowest ranked nation at the tournament at 24.

The coach of the Namibian team, Marcha Myburg said they were delighted at being invited to play in the tournament.

“This is our second time at the Nations Cup and we’re delighted to be here. Our toughest opposition this week will be Fiji and Singapore we expect,” Myburg said.

The Namibian national netball team left for Singapore on Friday confident that they will achieve good results when they participate in the Nations Cup tournament that will be held from 5 to 11 December.

Jatjinda Kambatuku, captain of the team said this on the eve of the team’s departure.

“We are very confident that we will perform better this year because we have more talent and we prepared for longer,” Kambatuku said.

The Namibian netball team is hard at work in preparation for the Nations Cup which will be held in Singapore from 5 to 11 December.

All Namibia Netball Association (ANNA) vice president – marketing and public relations, Alvira Peterson, said most of the players had been training for about a month.

“Eight of the players have been training every day at the United Sports Club, but four other players from the regions could not join the group due to work commitments,” Peterson said.

“However the whole team will get together for the final training camp from Friday.”

The All Namibia Netball Association (ANNA) is still looking for sponsorships in order for them to be able to play international friendly matches in preparation for the Six Nations Netball tournament due to be held in Singapore from 6 to 11 December.

The vice president – marketing and public relations of ANNA, Alvira Peterson said they needed to play the friendly matches in order to prepare well for the Six Nations tournament.

“We have been asking around, but we are still unable to get a sponsor for our matches and the training camps,” Peterson said.