Johannesburg, 23 January 2021: Fresh in a game with all the characteristics of a tournament opener, the South African Wheelchair Basketball Ladies National Team narrowly survived a scare against hosts Ethiopia as they won the game 30-24 at the 2022 IWBF Africa World Championship Qualifiers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The game was marred by a lot of wasted possession and missed opportunities from both sides which would have no doubt left both coaches scratching their heads as neither team could find their rhythm, especially in the first half.
The South Africans edged the first half 10-9 after the hosts started off the better of the two sides.
The second half saw the South Africans maintain and then stretch their lead before closing out the game much to the frustration of the very vocal home support that was loud throughout.
“The game went well, even though it was a bit slow, but hoping that in the next game against Algeria we will see something different,” said Ntombi Mthombeni, coach of the women’s national team.
Meanwhile, the Men’s Team team could not take to the court as their opponents, Algeria is battling with a COVID-19 outbreak resulting in a forfeiture and South Africa taking maximum points.
The tournament continues into its second day tomorrow as the South African Ladies take on their Algerian counterparts and the Men’s side take on the Democratic Republic of Congo. All South African matches are live-streamed on the Wheelchair Basketball SA page on Facebook.
