Africa’s sole representatives at the IWBF Men’s U23 World Championship, South Africa’s Sasol AmaWheelies are in the middle of a four-game stretch at the global showpiece as they seek to qualify for the knockout stages.
The African Champions faced off against a highly regarded and unbeaten Great Britain team on Friday evening at the Centro de Treinamento Paralímpico Brasileiro in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Despite the high motivation and preparation for the game, the South Africans found themselves on the wrong side of a 100-17 reverse against the clinical Europeans.
Following this disappointment, it was the turn of the defending World Champions to feel the heat from the South Africans on Sunday afternoon. Both teams went into the game knowing it was make or break for their tournament hopes and the game did not disappoint.
With the evergreen Ntando Nokama in inspired form, the South Africans went pound for pound against their more acclaimed opponents in what was arguably their best offensive performance of the tournament so far before closing off the half at 29-22 in favour of the Japanese.
The second half proved to be more challenging for the Sasol AmaWheelies as Japan moved up a gear and were able to press home their advantage, shut down the South African offense and eventually emerge 62-35 victors.
The young South Africans then lined up against Italy on Youth Day in a make a break game as their knockout stages’ chances hung by a thread.
In what was a game characterised by low intensity and low accuracy, the South Africans were unable to convert their numerous chances in the first half while the Italians exploited the defensive lapses to take a commanding 52-11 lead at half time.
The defensive struggles continued in the second half for the South Africans, culminating in a heavy 101-20 loss.
The South Africans will conclude their group stage program with a clash against Thailand on Tuesday, 17 June at 16h00 SA Time. All matches are live streamed on the IWBF YouTube channel.
