The 2021 Males International Netball Tournament kickstarted on Tuesday 14th September 2021 at the Heartfelt Arena just outside of Pretoria. This is the first time in almost ten years that this event has taken place, the last time this happened was back in 2013.
Initially a total of nine teams were confirmed to participate in this tournament namely South Africa, Zimbabwe, eSwatini, Kenya, Pakistan, Department of Correctional Services (DCS), Uganda and Action Sports however a total of four teams withdrew leaving only five teams come start of the tournament. South Africa, Kenya and Uganda were the only national teams left and joined by Action Sport and DCS on the day.
The opening match of day saw Action Sport take on Kenya national team and it was the national team of Kenya who showed their dominance, they claimed a 46 -28 win against Action Sport. The Department of Correctional Services and Uganda locked horns for the second match of the day and they lost 90 -10.
The official opening ceremony followed immediately after the second match of the day and in attendance were Netball South Africa’s Executive Committee, Gauteng Netball President, Correctional Services Officials, dignitaries from Uganda and Kenya as well as MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture in Gauteng Mbali Hlophe.
Host country South Africa played against Kenya immediately after Netball South Africa President Cecilia Molokwane officially declared the tournament opened. This was always going to be a tough encounter when these two sides battled it out. However, it was South Africa who claimed maximum points and won the match 58 – 43.
The two invitational teams, DCS and Action Sport took to court for their second respective matches of the day. DCS had been struggling for the better part of the day and they were thrashed 93 -26 by Action Sport.
South Africa and Uganda took to court for the final match of the day, both countries are also playing their second matches. They come into this match very high in confidence after winning their opening matches convincingly earlier in the day. Hosts South Africa clinched the match and won it 48 -43
Fixtures for Wednesday 15th September 2021
09:00 – DCS v Kenya
11:00 -Uganda v Action Sport
13:30 – South Africa v DCS
15:30 – Kenya v Uganda
18:00 – Action Sport v South Africa
Please note that spectators are not allowed at the arena however all matches are streamed live on Netball South Africa’s Facebook page and YouTube channel
