NAIROBI, Kenya, June 22, 2025 – National women’s netball coach Mugisha Ali has called for more friendlies to sharpen the team into one of the best in the world.
Ali believes such friendlies will improve every aspect of the squad and enable them compete with the creme-de-la-creme of world netball.
“I would like to ask the federation to prepare for us more friendlies to enable us sharpen ourselves and compete effectively. We have made progress in the squad, something I am really proud of. These team have made strides ever since we competed in Singapore,” the Ugandan said.
The Divas left an indelible mark at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Netball Cup in Dubai after beating Ireland 46-37 to finish third.
The match, played on Saturday evening at the Al Nasr Club, was a thriller in which both teams sought to usurp one another for the bronze medal.
It was the second meeting in two days between the two sides, following their earlier clash on Friday, which Kenya won 52-42.
In contrast to their earlier duel, the Divas assumed total control from the onset, racing to a 13-5 lead in the first quarter.
An attempted fightback from the Irish notwithstanding, Kenya tightened their grip on the game with a 24-15 win in the second quarter before extending it to 34-28 in the penultimate quarter.
The introduction of Ramadhan Pauline and Vida Adhiambo in place of Cynthia Milinya and Ndong, respectively, in the fourth quarter, allowed Divas to close out the game effectively to cap an A-grade performance in the round-robin tournament.
Standout center Irine Akinyi was named Kenya’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.
