Times Of Swaziland: SWAZILAND BEAT HONG KONG IN OPENER

SWAZILAND BEAT HONG KONG IN OPENER
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BY ASHMOND NZIMA on 04/12/2017 07:14:00


Hong Kong....................................36
Swaziland......................................48
MBABANE – The national netball side is celebrating a dream start in the
Mission Foods Nations Cup in Singapore.
The Thobile Nzama-led outfit beat Hong Kong by 48-36 in the opener of the
six-team tournament yesterday.
According to a correspondence from the hosts, Swaziland unleashed the best from
their arsenal as they started the game with the free-scoring duo of Jabu
Khathwane and Sebenzile Nxumalo upfront, among others.
The seasoned pair of Tengetile Sibandze and Bongiwe Magagula was also thrown
into the deep end in wing defence and goal defence, respectively.
The local side had trailed by 8-12 by the end of the first quarter, but started
cruising from halftime, as they were 201-19 up.
Team skipper Philile Khathwane told the Netball Singapore website that the win
was a confidence booster.
“We’re excited to have won the game.
“The team is feeling confident and we will go out and win as many games as we
can,” Khathwane was quoted saying.
Focus shifts to today’s showdown with the hosts, Singapore, who are the
top-ranked outfit in the tournament. It will be played at 1pm local time.
Singapore beat Ireland by 54-53 in their feisty opening game.
In the other first game of the tournament, Cook Islands beat Malaysia by 69-35.
Swaziland arrived safely in Singapore two days ago. They are the only African
team in the event. They got an invitation in recognition of the resurgence of
the national team in 2015. The national outfit bagged a bronze medal for the
first time that year during the African Championships in Botswana.