South Africa and Uganda will face off on Sunday in the playoff for fifth and sixth place at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town in what could be described as a grudge match.
The She Cranes relegated the Proteas to sixth place at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. This week, South Africa narrowly beat Uganda in a Pool G encounter at the World Cup.
South Africa advanced to the playoffs after a convincing 72-46 victory over Tonga in their first meeting at a World Cup.
The SPAR Proteas defeat Tonga to set up a showdown against Uganda in the fifth/sixth-place playoff.#NWC2023 | #HereForHer pic.twitter.com/qFpkJZTv03
— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) August 4, 2023
With Springbok captain Siya Kolisi in attendance, the home side overcame a nervous start, 12-all in the first quarter, to eventually run out victors.
Springbok captain, @SiyaKolisi leads the #NWC2023 crowd in a gwijo ??????#HereForHer #SPARProteas pic.twitter.com/9PwrNUAgx8
— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) August 4, 2023
Tonga and Malawi will contest the playoff for seventh and eighth position.
Uganda will achieve their highest placing ever at a World Cup after they beat Malawi 57-46. Their previous highest placing was 7th in 2019 in Liverpool.
Uganda coach Fred Mugerwa was up and out of his seat at the side of the court throughout the match, shouting instructions and pointing to where he wanted his players to move. They did so successfully to feature on the last day of competition at this year’s World Cup.
Taking it all in ??
— World Netball (@WorldNetball_) August 4, 2023
Uganda get their first-ever World Cup victory over Malawi with a 57-46 win ????#NWC2023 | @shecranes256 pic.twitter.com/YKIT6tqzUE
After below-par performances at the start of the tournament, Zimbabwe finally showed up in Cape Town when they thoroughly beat Barbados 75-48 to claim the 13th spot.
The fitness levels of the Gems carried them throughout the match as only two changes were made throughout the 60 minutes of play. When the final whistle blew, the winning margin was 27 goals.
The Gems are glowing ??@NetballZimbabwe finish the @NetballWorldCup in 13th with three wins ??#NWC2023 | #PutYourHandsUp pic.twitter.com/JwXgvfTkZv
— World Netball (@WorldNetball_) August 4, 2023
Singapore beat Sri Lanka 49-46 in a tightly contested affair to finish 15th. This was the second victory for Singapore over their opponents this week in Cape Town.
Singapore Amandeep Chahal was the star of the show for Singapore, and was deservedly named the most valuable player.
Singapore finish in 15th ????
— World Netball (@WorldNetball_) August 4, 2023
Singapore improve on their 2019 @NetballWorldCup finish after fighting to a play-off win ??#NWC2023 | #PutYourHandsUp pic.twitter.com/JUNnaXmvur