{"id":81969,"date":"2024-12-10T13:35:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T13:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage"},"modified":"2024-12-10T13:45:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T13:45:04","slug":"africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage","title":{"rendered":"Africa Netball Cup takes centre stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Namibia. <\/strong><\/span><b>The MTC Dome at Swakopmund will this week be the battleground for what is expected to be an epic showdown for continental glory as 10 nations contest the Africa Netball Cup.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The thrilling tournament featuring both men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams starts today and concludes on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The women\u2019s draw features holders Zambia, former winners South Africa, Malawi and Kenya in pool 1, with hosts Namibia drawn in pool 2 alongside world number six Uganda, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Lesotho.<\/p>\n<p>In the men\u2019s section, Namibia face South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Burundi, Kenya and Eswatini.<\/p>\n<p>Only the top-two teams from each pool will advance to the semi-finals of the competition.<\/p>\n<p>The men will play in a round robin format and the top two teams will proceed to play the final.<\/p>\n<p>Minister of sport, youth, and national service Agnes Tjongarero urged nation to get behind their home teams and the competition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the Desert Jewels and Camelthorn, you are not just athletes, you are ambassadors of our nation. Play with pride, courage, and unity as you represent Namibia on this grand stage,\u201d she said when welcoming the competing teams to Namibia on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd to all participating teams, we wish you a memorable tournament filled with fierce competition and camaraderie. May the best team win. Namibia welcomes Africa with open arms,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are thrilled to host this prestigious tournament that not only showcases the incredible talent of our African athletes, but also strengthens the bonds of unity and pride across the continent,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTogether we rise. Together we shine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Powerhouses Uganda and South Africa are likely to contest the final on Saturday, and both believe they will emerge as the top nation.<\/p>\n<p>After missing out on the tournament due to internal administrative issues last year, Uganda, who will not be fielding a men\u2019s team, are confident of regaining the title.<\/p>\n<p>She Cranes captain Irene Eyaru expressed confidence in the team ahead of the championship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do not think there is a better team in Africa than Uganda. I know many teams are preparing to beat Uganda, but for us, we just take it very easy because these are just normal countries we have been playing with. Since we started playing with them, we don\u2019t have that fear of saying they are better than us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>For South Africa\u2019s Proteas, who are more accustomed to playing non-Africa opponents given their pedigree as the top-ranked team on the continent, the Africa Netball Cup will provide their side with valuable experience.<\/p>\n<p>Vice captain Karla Pretorious looks forward to playing teams who have a completely different style to the likes of the top four teams in the world, Australia, England, New Zealand, and Jamaica.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat African style of athleticism and the fact that they never stop, which is very unique to us African players, is something that\u2019s always been a challenge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we\u2019re fully aware of it. It\u2019s about how we do our homework and execute the game plan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Namibia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Namibia. The MTC Dome at Swakopmund will this week be the battleground for what is expected to be an epic showdown for continental glory as 10 nations contest the Africa Netball Cup. The thrilling tournament featuring both men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams starts today and concludes on Saturday. The women\u2019s draw features holders Zambia, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":81968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-81969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Africa Netball Cup takes centre stage - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The MTC Dome at Swakopmund will this week be the battleground for what is expected to be an epic showdown for contine ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Africa Netball Cup takes centre stage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The MTC Dome at Swakopmund will this week be the battleground for what is expected to be an epic showdown for contine ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-10T13:35:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-10T13:45:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2024\/12\/sm_1733825622.162906.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"691\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Africa Netball Cup takes centre stage\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-10T13:35:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-10T13:45:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage\"},\"wordCount\":524,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2024\/12\/sm_1733825622.162906.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/africa-netball-cup-takes-centre-stage\",\"name\":\"Africa Netball Cup takes centre stage - 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