The national women’s netball team, the She Cranes, will face-off with Nigeria in their opening match of the Africa Netball Championships this Sunday at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya.
In the tournament that throws off on Saturday, Uganda has fielded both its women’s and men’s national teams.
The men’s national team, colloquially known as The Rock, will launch their campaign on Saturday when they square off against hosts Kenya.
In Sunday’s fixtures, the highly anticipated showdown between Nigeria and Uganda will serve as the final match of the day after three fixtures including Namibia playing Botswana, Malawi against Kenya and South Africa with Zimbabwe.
This marks the historic first time that Nigeria is competing in this tournament.
Consequently, the She Cranes camp admits they have limited tactical data or familiarity regarding Nigeria’s style of play.
However, the team has disclosed that they are approaching every single fixture with the intensity of a final, emphasizing that their primary objective is to kick off the tournament with a victory.
Team captain Rachael Nanyonga noted that while they must exercise caution against unfamiliar Nigeria, they will certainly not underestimate them simply because they are newcomers to the tournament.
‘We are not going to underestimate this team, our aim is winning all our fixtures with the same intensity,’ she said.
A total of nine other nations are participating in this year’s championship.
Uganda is pooled in Group 2 alongside Malawi, Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria while Pool 1 has South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Tanzania .