Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIA’S showcase international netball tournament, the Pent Series, got off to a faltering start, with Namibia winning the opening match by default after Kenya failed to arrive on time.
Kenya and Namibia were supposed to kick-start the tournament at 12h00 yesterday, but by then Kenya were still in the air and were only due to land at the Hosea Kutako International Airport at 13h25.
According to the secretary general of Netball Namibia, Imelda Neronga, Kenya only informed them about their travel difficulties late on Saturday night.
“It’s unfortunate. We were really looking forward to kick off this match and to show the nation our team is prepared for this tournament. However, at midnight Kenya informed us they had not secured their flights, which put them at a disadvantage, because according to the competition rules they were supposed to arrive on the 29th to prepare themselves for the competition, and now that they haven’t arrived they have forfeited this match,” she said.
Neronga said Kenya will still compete for the rest of the tournament. “Kenya will continue with the rest of the competition upon arrival. They are set to arrive at 13h25 this afternoon, but for this match Namibia has taken the points,” she said.
Neronga said they tried to salvage the situation by offering to switch that match with the second match at 14h00 between Zambia and Uganda, but Zambia did not want to change their playing time.
Besides that, Zimbabwe, who are travelling by road, have also not arrived by midday, but the organisers were hopeful they would arrive in time for their match against Malawi at 16h00.
“We tried to accommodate Kenya by changing the fixtures a little bit, and we are also in a situation where Zimbabwe has still not arrived, they are on the road, and will arrive in the next two hours,” she said.
“Zambia only arrived last night, however, they are still in time for their match, and if they are on court they will definitely play, so we could not compromise two other teams because of these late arrivals,” she said. Neronga said financial problems have caused the late arrivals.
“Zambia and Zimbabwe are travelling by road, so unfortunately the financial situation in their country made it difficult for them to secure their transport in advance. It’s the same with Kenya, their transport and flights were only paid on Saturday evening,” she said.
The tournament, which is taking place at the Patrick Iyambo Police College, is scheduled to continue over the next few days till Sunday, when the final group matches will be played. The competing teams are Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
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