Proteas crush Tonga to set up World Cup playoff against Uganda

Making a statement with a dominant victory on Friday night, the Proteas produced another fine performance in front of their home crowd to defeat Tonga in the Netball World Cup playoffs in Cape Town.

They had to work for it, however, shaking off an early fight to set up a playoff battle against African rivals Uganda in their last match of the quadrennial showpiece this weekend.

With nothing to lose, World Cup debutants Tonga came out firing, and they kept South Africa on their toes throughout the first quarter, going into the break level at 12-12.

Proteas take control

As hard as they fought, however, the Tonga Tala ran out of steam in the second stanza, and the Proteas took control as they charged to a 30-23 advantage at half-time.

The SA team extended the gap by another four points in the third quarter (47-36) and they tightened the screws over the final 15 minutes, wrapping up a convincing 72-46 win.

South Africa will face Uganda in the playoff for fifth and sixth positions at 11am on Sunday, on the closing day of the World Cup.

This match will follow the playoff for seventh and eighth places to be played between former African giants Malawi and Tonga which starts at 9am at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Proteas captain Bongi Msomi said the hosts were gearing up for a tough contest against Uganda, in an attempt to finish as the top African team at the tournament.

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They were hoping to hit back after falling to Uganda in the fifth-place playoff at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Should they lose, it will be the first time the SA side has finished outside the top five at the World Cup since 2007.

“We have to focus on keeping our ranking because Uganda is really good, and they are going to come hard,” Msomi said.

Medal playoffs

Meanwhile, in Saturday’s semi-final matches, England will face title holders New Zealand at 11am and Jamaica are up against 11-time champions Australia at 4pm.

The third-place playoff will be contested at 4pm on Sunday, which will decide the bronze medallists, and the final will be played at 6pm.

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