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JOHANNESBURG. — After a four-year hiatus, Netball South Africa has confirmed that the SPAR Diamond Challenge will make a return this year and it will be a contest between three countries.
The SPAR Diamond Challenge will take place from November 22 till November 26 and will be played at the University of Pretoria’s Rembrandt Hall.
“We felt that it was important for us as a federation to have another major tournament just before we close off the year. It is crucial that the SPAR Proteas get some much-needed game time especially considering how busy 2023 will be.
”This tournament will give our coaching staff one last chance to assess the team and look at players ahead of the January Quad Series,” said Netball South Africa President Cecilia Molokwane.
South Africa will play host to Scotland and Zimbabwe, and following the withdrawal of the Malawi national team, South Africa’s President’s XII team has been roped in to participate at this year’s tournament as an invitational team.
“SPAR is proud to be the title sponsor of the 2022 SPAR Diamond Challenge in Pretoria. We welcome the teams from Scotland and Zimbabwe, and we are delighted that the President’s XII will be taking part, as this gives a wider pool of players a chance to show off their talent” said SPAR Group Events and Sponsorship Manager Charlene Subbarayan.
“SPAR is committed to the promotion of women’s sport in South Africa and to supporting this all-important international series,” said Subbarayan.
The SPAR Proteas squad is already assembled for pre-tournament as of November 7 as they prepare for the tournament and a final team will be announced shortly before the SPAR Diamond Challenge.
All the participating teams will be in the country no later than the November 19.
Molokwane concluded by saying “such a tournament is needed because we need to make sure that we do well at next year’s Netball World Cup, the best way to do that is by ensuring that we get the team some game time so that they are prepared and ready.”
All the 2022 SPAR Diamond Challenges will be broadcast live on SuperSport and final fixtures together with broadcast schedule will be made available soon.
Tickets for the games will be available at the venue — R20 for adults and R10 for school going children. — Supersport.com
Online Reporter