THE Desert Jewels have been exceptional despite losing two of their matches at the Confederation of Southern African Netball Associations (Cosana) Tri-nation series in Blantyre, in Malawi.
This according to head coach Sunette Burden. Burden's charges were much improved when avenging their loss to Zimbabwe's Gems, scoring a hard-fought 38-34 over their rivals yesterday.
Following back-to-back losses to Zimbabwe and then Malawi in their first two matches on Sunday, Namibia had to dig deep to secure their first victory of the competition.
They won all four quarters on their way to redemption.
The first quarter ended 8-10, with the Jewels' best showing coming in the second period when they held a six-point advantage at 14-20.
But the Gems from Zimbabwe closed the gap to 25-28 in the third quarter, before Namibia rallied to close out the game 38-34 in the final quarter.
The win was a welcome relief for the Jewels whose campaign got off to the worst possible start after crashing 48-36 to Zimbabwe, and then 60-23 to the host nation's Queens in their second match on Sunday.
The under-19 side also lost their opener to their Zimbabwean peers on Sunday, with the match ending 42-23.
The juniors were due to meet Malawi later yesterday.
Burden was delighted with the way the Jewels rallied back from the opening day defeats.
"Our personal victories and targets we set for ourselves we have managed to achieve. Against Malawi, we put the best first quarter Namibia has seen in a very long time. It was an exceptional display of our netball skills, technique and adaptability to the challenge," she said.
Jet lag coupled with jitters contributed to the below-par early results, Burden said.
"The players played with anxiety and lots of pressure, because they knew they are playing against some of the best teams in Africa," she said.
"From the onset, we must realise these countries are already prepared to go to the Commonwealth Games, and they are at their peak," Burden said.
"It's two hard games we played on the very first day after a 24-hour flight. The players were physically and mentally fatigued, and they really struggled to make quality decisions under pressure," she said.
Today Namibia will face the hosts again, looking to reverse the outcome.
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"We are taking baby steps. We had our small victories during the losses. We play against more experienced and higher-ranked countries, yet our Jewels are always up for the challenge.
"Each player today was at their best, and that is what gave them the victory today [yesterday]. They adapted their game plan from yesterday [Sunday], they stuck to it, and they bounced back to overcome their failure," Burden said.
Cosana president Leaticia Chipandu says the five-day tournament is crucial in helping the participating nations boost their world netball rankings and to prepare for upcoming tournaments such as the Commonwealth Games - a competition in which Malawi is taking part.
South Africa is the other African country at the Commonwealth Games, which will run from 29 July to 7 August.
"In terms of senior teams, this is important. As you know they are world-ranking games, so we decided to have the platform in our region for our teams to be playing linking competitions because of the geographical proximity.
"We also want to help our lower-ranked countries like Zimbabwe and Namibia," she said.
