She Cranes upbeat despite malaria and injury blows

Uganda have been plagued by malaria. The She Cranes coach Fred Mugerwa has lost two of his players to the illness in the team’s quest to book a place in the fifth-place match playoffs.

Christine Namulumba has had to withdraw from the Netball World Cup team following an infection with malaria. Sarah Nakiyunga has since replaced Namulumba. Nakuyunga is making her debut in the 16-nation tournament in Cape Town after she had been in the senior national structure since 2021.

Centre court player Margaret Bagaala is also suffering from malaria infection. However, the She Cranes couldn’t do without her in the game against Wales and they played her still. She was later substituted with Lilian Achola coming in at centre.

This was the first time Baagala was rested since the competition started, playing only in the first and last quarters. Coach Mugwera is confident that Baagala will recover well in time for their next match.

“Majority of players came with malaria, Baagala inclusive and (Namulumba) Kango. Because she (Bagaala) is a key player, we couldn’t rest her but we had to remove Kango and brought someone else. That is why you saw changes in the team. She is receiving treatment, in fact even right now she will take medication, her last dose. We hope that by tomorrow she would have fully recovered. That is the reason why we substituted her because she was feeling dizzy because of the medication she is taking. But I think by tomorrow she would have recovered and continue playing properly,” says Mugwera.

The eighth ranked side didn’t suffer just a single blow. They also lost Norah Lunkuse to injury and will be out for the remainder of the competition. She has been replaced by Viola Asingo.

The mentor says although he was happy with Nakiyunga’s debut, there is still room for growth for the young player.

“It was good being that it was her first time, it was good. But there’s still a lot that we can work on, more especially for tomorrow’s game. She needs to work on some other things that she needs to do in a match,” he says.

The eighth ranked side didn’t suffer just a single injury blow. They also lost Norah Lunkuse to injury and she will be out for the remainder of the competition.

She has been replaced by Viola Asingo. Asingo got a taste of the tournament, coming in the last quarter at wing defence.

FOCUS SHIFTS TO SA MATCH

Mugwera’s charges didn’t seem to be disrupted when they had the better of Wales on Wednesday. They took the match with a 73-56 victory.

SheCranes stand tall ????

Uganda beat Wales 73-56 for their first World Cup win over the Feathers ??#NWC2023 | @shecranes256 pic.twitter.com/VeMeqY9sVv

— World Netball (@WorldNetball_) August 2, 2023

He says it was important that they win the match in order to safeguard their world ranking post this tournament.

“It’s good because that is what we wanted. We didn’t want to lose a game to Wales because it would spoil our rankings. We wanted to take that game,” he says.

World Cup debutant Shaffie Nalwanja put in another great shift for the She Cranes and this time her efforts were good enough to make her walk away with the Player of the Match accolade.

Nalwanja says her first cup has been a great experience.

“I think playing the first time in defence, I haven’t been so bad. I have been consistent since the first game and I have been waiting for this chance to be Player of the Match. Being the Player of the Match against a very good team like Wales feels really great. So far it has not been so bad. We have lost only two games and although we lost, we put up a good fight. So far it’s a very good start for me,” says Nalwanja.

The focus now shifts to the host team, South Africa, in their last second preliminary pool. The last time the two sides Uganda came out as winners, claiming the fifth spot at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, demoting the Spar Proteas to sixth place.

Nalwanja says they are anticipating a tough encounter.

“There is still pressure because South Africa is a very good team. Seeing that they are home, they have the home advantage so we have to come in really strong to get the win,” she says.

Mugwera says his players will need to shut out the noise and not be distracted by the South African supporters.

“We are going to be playing eight people because they have the crowd who is going to be the eighth person here but I will tell the players not to fear the crowd. They will maybe have to put some cotton in their eyes so they don’t have to hear the noise from the crowd and play their own game. If they follow those instructions I think we will still gave the upper hand because we have managed to beat them. So anything is possible, tomorrow we can (beat them),” says Mugwera.