Semifinals locked in as TNL title race heats up

The 2024 Telkom Netball League champions are cruising well this season. After 12 rounds of matches, the Free State Crinums have continued to dominate the competition and remain the only side that has not lost a match in the whole competition.

The Martha Mosoahle-Samm-led side finished the second Power Week on top of Division 1 table with 24 points and they are followed by defending champions the Gauteng Golden Fireballs.

Mosoahle-Samm resorted to using the same starting-seven team in most of the matches in the second round and this proved fruitful.

The Crinums will face six-time champions, the Gauteng Jaguars in the semifinals of the competition while the Fireballs will meet the Western Cape Southern Stings in the last round of the competition set for 12 to 15 June at the Heartfelt Arena in Tshwane.

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Crinums assistant coach Sikholiwe Mdletshe says working as a unit has been critical in the team’s success and going unbeaten in the competition so far.

“The biggest thing is working together as a unit. We work together on attack and we work together on defence. That is the one thing that is keeping us there. When we lose a ball, the attackers start the defence and by the time the ball gets to their attackers they are already tired because they have been grinding through it. It is the same thing on attack, we are forever helping on the attack. Everyone attacks together,” says Mdletshe.

The former midcourt player says the team has a lot of work to do in the two weeks ahead of the knockout stage of the tournament.

“The semifinal is a new competition. There’s a lot of things to work on and hopefully come back stronger,” she adds.

Stings defender Entle Futshane understands that the semifinal round will also not be easy.

The Stings have played in three finals of the TNL, however, they are yet to take the title back to the Western Cape.

Futshane says she hopes to end the season with a medal around her neck.

“We obviously don't have a dream opponent in mind. I feel like if you want to be the best, you should be able to beat the best. But obviously nobody wants to play No 1 unbeaten on the log. I think I am happy with the performance of our team in Power Week Two. I think we took a lot of things from the first leg, and we went back home, we built on that. I think that it's starting to pay off. I haven't been in a Stings team yet where we even got a medal. So for me, just being able to be in that top three and winning a semi, it would be quite life-changing and it would be so motivating for us and very important for the people back home as well,” says Futshane.

The goalkeeper admits that not having a full strength squad in the second round of the tournament has been challenging.

“I think, like, many teams, the most challenging thing is most of the players are student-athletes. We've had a lot of people that couldn't come to this leg, for example, because they're still writing exams. It becomes very difficult having to choose between the two, your academics and netball,” she explains.

The return of defenders Cornelia Mupenda and Jeanté Strydom seems to have added a boost for the Fireballs.

The duo missed the opening round due to their participation in the Malaysian Netball Super League.

Fireballs coach Dr. Elsje Jordaan says she’s happy with how her side performed in the second round.

“Massive improvement from Power Week One. We are growing, learning and coming together nicely. The Power Week was good for us. We are really pleased with where we are on the log and now we are looking forward to the semifinals,” says Jordaan.

PROMOTION/RELEGATION BATTLE LOOMS

Meanwhile, the KwaZulu-Natal Kingdom Stars will compete in a promotion/ relegation match again this season.

Although Stars came into the second round showing promise, they only managed to win one match.

The Nompumelelo Mthembu-led side remains rooted at the bottom of the Division One table.

They will face the Division Two winners in the promotion match on the last day of the competition.

Although the Western Cape Tornados maintained their spot at the top of Division 2 log, they finished the second round with a loss to the North West Tshukudu.

This was their second loss of Power Week Two, the Mpumalanga Sunbirds were the first team to hand them their first defeat of the season.

The Tornados will be looking to get back on top when they meet the Free State Sonoblomo in semis, while Limpopo Baobabs will face KwaZulu-Natal Kingdom Queens in the other semifinal match.