KAMPALA: The national netball team, the She Cranes, who arrived in Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday, beat Barbados 53-33 in a World Cup warm up game played at the city’s International Convention Centre on Sunday evening.
Uganda’s UK based shooter, Mary Nuba joined the team in time for the game with the technical team describing her performance as encouraging. The She Cranes next play Scotland at the same venue on Tuesday to determine the team’s starting line-up, according to assistant coach, Sarah Namuddu.
“The team had a good game against Barbados. We tested all players. But let’s wait until after first (group D against Singapore) on Friday to determine our direction,” She Cranes assistant coach, Sarah Namuddu said on Sunday.
Fourteen players flew out to South Africa on July 22 as Nuba, who plies her trade at Lightning Loughborough, joined the team later.
She Cranes head coach Fred Mugerwa said he was confident that Nuba’s arrival would work on the team’s psychology ahead of the competition’s throw-off:
“Nuba will definitely iron out a thing things but her arrival is a boast to the team,” he said.
Uganda, who are ranked number 8 in the world, start the campaign against Singapore on July 28 before facing defending champions New Zealand the following morning. The girls conclude their group D engagements against Trinidad and Tobago on July 30.
Uganda is making their fourth appearance at this competition with the hope of exceeding the group stages that comprises three phases – including two pool legs.
The She Cranes team’s official partners include; Kansai Plascon, Uganda Airlines, and Gal Sports Betting. Uganda’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are also associating with the team by sponsoring selected journalists to enable them cover the event successfully.