SA NETBALLERS THE GEMS IN DIAMOND EVENT
THE unbeaten SPAR Proteas national netball team go into today’s fifth and final round of the five nations Diamond Challenge tournament in Limpopo with victory over Zimbabwe almost a formality.
South African sides have dominated all four of the previous tournaments and this year the Proteas will be confident of doing the same having already defeated Namibia (78-28), Botswana (83-16), the SA President’s team (62-35) and Zambia (57-36).
The Proteas, ranked No 5 in the world and just above Malawi, came into the tournament as defending champions after beating Zimbabwe (No 13) in the final of last year’s tournament in Durban and are the highest-ranked team in Africa.
Malawi’s absence at this year’s tournament is due to financial constraints which is lamentable as they have proved to be formidable opponents for the Proteas over the past few years.
Australia, winners of the Netball World Cup three times, are the top ranked nation followed by England (No 2; World Cup wins 2), New Zealand (No 3; World Cup wins 3), and Jamaica (No 4; World Cup wins 2).
Other nations to have won the Netball World Cup since it’s inception in 1963 include Singapore (2), Scotland (1) and Trinidad and Tobago (1).
South Africa have a second side, the President’s team, at this tournament which has showcased some of the up and coming local players.
Head coach Norma Plummer said it is important for the game nationally to have a second tier of players participating at the top level as it acts as the feeder team to the Proteas with next year’s Netball World Cup in Liverpool only months away and the SPAR Proteas needing to be well prepared for it.
Proteas captain, Bongi Msomi, said it was important for all the top players to get exposure playing against the national teams of other countries: “The competition is not going to be easy as the African countries are improving all the time and they are hungry to impress against the Proteas.
“Zimbabwe are our strongest opposition and we will not be underestimating them when we play them.”
Vice-captain Karla Pretorius said she is confident about playing in the Diamond Challenge as the Proteas are developing into a strong and solid team.
There has been cause for a couple of celebrations for the Proteas at this tournament with Maryka Holtzhausen registering her 100th cap, in the opening game against Botswana.
The 31-year-old goal-attack player made her debut for Proteas11 years ago right here in Limpopo and is the second player to attain this status after team-mate Erin Burger who has earned 109 caps to date.
Thursday’s clash between the two South African sides saw the Proteas run out 62-35 winners with the unusual combination of Lenize Potgieter at goal attack and Sigi Burger at goal shooter as the Proteas raced into an 18-5 lead after the first quarter, increasing the gap to 16 goals as the score moved on to 30-14 at half-time.
The President’s just could not keep up with the Proteas who took the third quarter score to 49-22 and to the eventual 27-goal winning margin.
Msomi summed up the Proteas’ victory saying: “I would definitely say I’m happy, this win is just what we wanted today. There are still obviously a few things that we want to work on but I think today we did have some great passages of play.”
President’s team coach, Jenny van Dyk, said: “We had a bit of a slow start but that’s what we expect from our best team in the country – we knew they’d come out with all guns blazing!”
The President’s team play Botswana today while Zambia play Namibia and the SA Proteas take on Zimbabwe.