Namibia’s Desert Jewels head coach, Julene Meyer describes the upcoming Pent Series as a mini netball world cup, considering the calibre of countries that will take part this year.
The Pent Series is scheduled for 01-05 November in Windhoek and will see Namibia pitted against Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya.
Malawi is currently ranked sixth in the world, Uganda seventh, Zimbabwe 12th, Zambia 15th, Namibia 24th and Kenya 39th.
“It’s a mini world cup cameo with the teams that will participate. It is a strong field with fierce competition. I think it’s also a wonderful opportunity for the netball community to witness top quality netball on home soil,” Meyer told New Era Sport yesterday.
The Pent Series was launched in 2017 and saw the likes of Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Swaziland participating. Zimbabwe won and Namibia ended third. Namibia then went on to win the second edition of the tournament in June 2018, which saw two Namibian teams, as well as Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe competing.
Meyer expects tough tournament, saying it will be physically very demanding since the African style of play is aggressive.
“We have to play outdoors in the heat, so players’ management and recovery will be crucial since we, unfortunately, don’t have sprung floors or indoor venues.
“There will be no easy games, and every day we will have to bring our A-game to beat those ranked much higher than us. We look forward to the challenge and with the support of our home crowd, the team will be extra motivated to beat the other nations, and give performances that make Namibians proud,” she added.
Asked about the preparations of the team, Meyer said they are at an advanced stage, and will trim the training squad down to 15 players from the 27 called up.
“We will be finalising the team this coming weekend. The top 15, consisting of 12 players with three reserves, will go into the final preparation training camp. We also have the Africa Cup (in South Africa this November) to ensure we have reserve players available, and ready to integrate seamlessly should we have an injury during the Pent Series,” she said.
The fixtures:
01 November
10h30 Official Opening
12h00 Test 1 Namibia vs Kenya
14h00 Test 2 Uganda vs Zambia
16h00 Test 3 Malawi vs Zimbabwe
02 November
12h00 Test 4 Malawi vs Uganda
16h00 Test 5 Zimbabwe vs Kenya
18h00 Test 6 Namibia vs Zambia
03 November
12h00 Test 7 Zimbabwe vs Uganda
16h00 Test 8 Namibia vs Malawi
18h00 Test 9 Kenya vs Zambia
04 November
12h00 Test 10 Zambia vs Malawi
16h00 Test 11 Uganda vs Kenya
18h00 Test 12 Zimbabwe vs Namibia
05 November
09h00 Test 13 Kenya vs Malawi
11h00 Test 14 Zambia vs Zimbabwe
13h00 Test 15 Uganda vs Namibia
- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na