The Netball World Cup hopes for both teams have ended despite the Proteas’ narrow victory against Uganda in their Pool G encounter at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) on Thursday.
In a relatively an empty CTICC, the few hundred South Africans in the stands, including Olympian Chad le Clos, cheered on the hosts as the Proteas sealed a narrow 52-50 win.
The Proteas will now play on Friday for fifth and sixth place with their opponents still to be decided.
Starting the match, the Proteas needed to beat Uganda by 64 goals in order to make the World Cup semi-finals. This calculation was determined after Jamaica defeated the defending champions New Zealand 59-48 earlier in the day.
With the World Cup semi-finals only a mathematic possibility, the Proteas had nothing to lose as they faced their African counterparts.
South Africa dominated the game in the early stages, but it was Uganda who fought back gallantly. In the first quarter, the combination of Ine-Marí Venter and Nichole Taljaard were in hot form as the home side opened a 16-11 lead.
In the second quarter, the Proteas once again dominated possession as they led 17-8 to open a 33-19 lead at half-time
The Ugandans, however, proved why they are one of the most talented netball nations around as they put the South African defence on the back foot in the third quarter.
Mary Cholhok Nuba was the star for Uganda as she had a 100 percent success rate at goal as the visitors dominated to take the quarter 17-8 and trail by only five points.
A few changes were made from the Proteas camp in the final quarter, but the Ugandans came out flying again as they continued to eat into the Proteas’ lead.
Soon they were level and things were looking a bit bleak for the home side with a few minutes left on the clock. The Cape Town crowd, however, remained upbeat and eventually the Proteas managed to hold their nerve and pull off a narrow win.
Elmeré van der Berg ended with 11 goals in 13 attempts, Taljaard was flawless with 15 goals in 15 attempts, while Venter scored 26 goals in 28 attempts.
