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‘The referee was poor’ is a song Ugandan athletes and officials love singing, and it was on the playlist on Wednesday after the She Cranes lost 52-50 to South Africa in their last Group E game at the 2023 Netball World Cup in South Africa.
South Africa had a slim chance of qualifying for the semifinal if they defeated Uganda by a margin of more than 64 goals and kept their opponents from scoring more than 20 to make that happen.
Uganda wanted the win to finish third on the log to tip them against fourth-placed Malawi in Group E in their classification match for positions five and six.
You can’t say umpires from Australia, Josh Bowring and Kate Wright, entirely had a bad day, but at some point, their decision was frustrating for Uganda.
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09:48 - 04.08.2023
NETBALL Netball World Cup 2023: The best photos from She Cranes’ 52-50 loss to South Africa
Uganda and South Africa played out a 52-50 Netball World Cup thriller in Cape Town as the hosts were able to get the win despite the fight from the She Cranes till the very end. Here are some of the best moments captured from the game
Captain Irene Eyaru and shooter Mary Nuba were seen at the end of the first quarter complaining about the same.
“I don’t want to comment about the umpires because when you talk, you are branded indisciplined, but the refereeing ground is not levelled, that is all I can say,” head coach Fred Mugerwa told Pulse Sports after the game.
“But we also made several mistakes that cost us, and it was tough for us to recover and concentrate when it mattered most,” Mugerwa added.
Lilian Achola started at Centre for the Sick Margret Baagala; she contributed 19 assists and shared the same sentiments as Mugerwa.
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17:20 - 03.08.2023
NETBALL WORLD CUP How Ugandans reacted to She Cranes' narrow defeat to South Africa
Uganda women's netball team, the She Cranes, fell narrowly to a 52-50 defeat to hosts South Africa at the ongoing 2023 Netball World Cup on Thursday.
“We tried our level best, but the umpires were not on our side; most of the balls were snatched from our hands, and there was nothing we could do,” Achola said.
“I hope we are going to meet them again; we shall work on our energy, and next time, I think we shall be able to win,” she added.
Goalkeeper Haniisha Muhammed believes they didn’t do enough as a team: “We should have won by a big margin, to be honest, because did have a lot of turnovers and intercepted more ball than South Africa.”
“We struggled in the second quarter with our attacking side; we dropped balls which were very difficult for us to recover,” Muhammed added.
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16:23 - 03.08.2023
NETBALL 2023 Netball World Cup: Fifth place finish very much alive for She Cranes despite loss to South Africa
She Cranes’ coach Fred Mugerwa had hinted on Wednesday that the game against South Africa at the 2023 Netball World Cup, Uganda, would be up against eight people, the seven players and their fans.
Uganda has played six games so far, winning three against Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago and Wales and has lost to Jamaica, New Zealand and South Africa.
There is a chance for Uganda to meet South Africa again if they can go past Malawi on Friday and South Africa beats Tonga.
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