THE Pent Series may have been done and dusted last week, but expect another huge flurry of African netball action in the coming days as the Africa Netball Cup plays out from November 9-16 in Windhoek, Namibia. 24th-ranked Namibia will again host world number six, Malawi, world number seven, Uganda, world number 12, Zimbabwe, world number 15, Zambia and world number 39, Kenya, while fifth ranked South Africa, 27th ranked Botswana and unranked Tanzania will also participate.

Pent Series results

It was Uganda that swept up the points last week, with five wins from five matches, including a 16-goal win over the higher-ranked Malawi. Uganda averaged 69 goals per game throughout the series with their lowest tally against Malawi, while the Malawi Queens only registered that one blemish against Uganda with comfortable wins against the remaining nations.

“The Pent Series has acted as a preparation tournament. My players are strong enough to put up an outstanding performance in the next competition starting Tuesday,” Uganda head coach Fred Mugerwa said following the She Cranes series win.

She Cranes former assistant captain and defender Lilian Ajio agreed, explaining that it is the team’s great communication that helped them compete well in the Pent Series.

“Our defence has been good and well-coordinated. We communicate so much on court and that is the reason why we have managed to win,” Ajio said.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe finished third overall with two wins, two losses and a draw against 15th ranked Zambia in a huge final clash to finish the event. Zimbabwe Gems captain Felisitus Kwangwa was critical of how her team finished off their tournament, suggesting they were “too casual” and did not take advantage of the Zambian team being forced to play with six following a send-off for persistent infringement.

“I’m not happy at all about our performance today. We were too casual. I don’t know if it was fatigue or something else,” Kwangwa said.

“We had an advantage of playing against six players, but it seems like at our attacking end, we were struggling to get the ball into the circle and when it got into the circle, our shooters were not accurate enough today.”

Despite Zambia’s excellent performance in their final match, they finished in fourth with one win, one draw and three losses, while Namibia finished third with wins over both Zambia and Kenya. Kenya finished with no wins to their name but still put on some solid performances defensively to prove that they can match the other nations in part.

Who are the favourites for the Africa Netball Cup?

With South Africa in the mix it is ultimately the world number five and defending Africa Netball Cup champions that should take the crown here, although fans should not rule out Uganda after their excellent run last week. Both South Africa and Uganda have swept their recent test matches with relative ease, showcasing some excellent form that will likely be showcased during the exciting Africa Netball Cup. Most intriguingly, sixth-ranked Malawi also have a chance to regroup following their loss to Uganda last week and are sure to come out with a fire in the belly to ensure they retain their greater standing on the World Netball rankings.

“The Africa Netball Cup is another opportunity for us to get some game time,” said Dorette Badenhorst, SPAR Proteas Head Coach.

“COVID taught us how to adapt, although a few of our starting line-up players are unavailable, as coaches we want to use every given opportunity to work on creating depth in the team and give more players an opportunity to play at this level.

Playing in Africa is always a tough assignment and one can’t afford to underestimate any team,” she added.

“Playing here at home is very different from playing in Europe however I think we can take a lot from our recent tour and play good disciplined netball in a very tough and physical environment.”

Netball South Africa President, Cecilia Molokwane agreed that teams cannot be underestimated coming into the Africa Netball Cup, with last week’s results proving just how well teams adjusted to matches and the high-stakes nature of test netball.

“Tournaments like the Africa Netball Cup are very important as they allow us as a nation to gauge ourselves against other African countries and most importantly we get to give our players game time especially ahead of the Commonwealth Games next year,” she explained.

“I think the coaches are beginning to experience a different kind of headache, they now need to figure out who to play ahead of who because everyone who has been called up has really showed up. As a federation we wish the team well and know, as defending Africa champions we can never underestimate any opposition we play.”

Picture credit: Reg Caldecott