The Proteas utmost focus will now be on making sure they can secure a fifth place finish at the Netball World Cup.
On Friday night the South Africans sealed a dominant 72-46 win over Tonga at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
It was evident Norma Plummer’s team were in a buoyant mood with players enjoying themselves on court and often smiling during the game.
Elmere’ van der Berg was again in fine form, along with Nicole Taljaard who got South Africa into a healthy lead in by the third quarter of the game.
The Proteas take on Uganda for a second time in a few days for the 5th/6th playoff on Sunday at 11am.
In their first meeting against Tonga at #NWC2023, the SPAR Proteas delivered a good performance to win the match comfortably.
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 4, 2023
It’s been a rollercoaster for the team, who after Jamaica beat New Zealand were in with a chance to make the semi-finals of the competition but weren’t able to get the more than 64 points against Uganda to make the last four.
Captain Bongi Msomi says they have their ‘own final’ they will be playing on Sunday at 11am.
“I want to say that I am really proud of the team, coming here we only had one loss to Jamaica, we drew against New Zealand and missed out on a semi-final just on goal difference. This is something we can be proud of.”
“We had a chat yesterday, which I am quite pleased to see that the girls could bounce back from the that disappointment (of not making the semi-finals) and to play what we called our semi-final. We have a final against Uganda. They are really a good side and gave it to us and we are looking forward to another battle. ”
“We are ranked fifth and that’s where we want to finish. I am so proud of the girls, there has been some really great netball played by the Proteas and to see the youngster coming through really playing good netball. That is something we can take forward and be of proud of.”
Saturday’s semi-finals sees England taking on world champions Silver Ferns at 11am and then at 4pm Jamaica will face off against top ranked side Australia.
IOL Sport