Cape Town - South Africa's Spar Proteas returned home with the Africa Netball Cup championship title under their belts after signing off the final day's play with an overwhelming 65–39 win over hosts Namibia in Windhoek.
South Africa have yet to lose a match in this Africa Netball Cup tournament since 2019. Uganda's She-Cranes finished runners-up and Malawi Queens ended third. The other five competing countries were Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya.
South Africa made a near clean sweep of awards at the closing ceremony. The World Netball ambassador, SA's Bongi Msomi was named player of the tournament and teammate Phumza Maweni collected the gong for the best defender.
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— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) November 18, 2021
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SPAR Proteas captain Bongiwe Msomi gives her thoughts on playing the best teams in Africa 🌍#SPARProteas #WeAreAllIn #AfricaNetballCup | @BongiweMsomi2 pic.twitter.com/V3lSbVilBq
South Africa coach Dorette Badenhorst said hard work had paid off for the team.
"For us, it was two months of hard work and I think it paid off," said Badenhorst. "It is very important that we go on court with the right attitude because we represent a lot of supporters out there.
"There are people from all over the world watching and always supporting us. So, we are just grateful to play good netball for them."
The SA assistant coach Dumisani Chauke said the team finished on a high note against Namibia on Tuesday.
"We knew that Namibia would give us a run for our money," said Chauke. "We understood that they will bring their A-game and we needed to be ready for that.
"I am really proud of how the girls rallied together and made sure that they delivered for the team."