Telkom Netball League reaches the penultimate
Telkom partnered with Netball South Africa this year to form what has been an exciting league thus far. The league is split into two division and all teams have had a chance to play against each other.
The Telkom Netball League has been running for the past four weeks and has seen 10 teams from all provinces competing for the prestigious prize of being crowned the best.
Telkom partnered with Netball South Africa this year to form what has been an exciting league thus far. The league is split into two division and all teams have had a chance to play against each other.
Three exhibition teams were added to the mix and these were the SPAR Smileys, which comprised of the SA-based Proteas players, the Zimbabwe national team and the President Stars, which is South Africa’s male netball team.
“The 2019 edition of the Telkom Netball League has been quite an interesting one, from the onset one could not tell who would win it as all the teams brought their A-game, the players have shown the desire to win and do better.
“You could see this in the manner in which they played, they gave the game their all every single time they played. As a federation, we are also very happy with Telkom for believing in us and the sport. Their partnership and involvement really makes all the difference in the game, we hope our partnership will grow stronger and help us achieve more together,” said Netball South Africa president Cecilia Molokwane.
The four teams that have reached the semi-finals are the Jaguars (Gauteng), the Stings (Western Cape), North West Flames and the Crinums (Free State). The first semi-final will see the Jaguars take on the Crinums at 4pm and this will be followed by the Stings taking on the Flames at 6pm on June 8 in Pretoria.
This will be their fifth time in six years that the Jaguars finish top of the log and they, together with the Flames, are the only teams to feature in all six division 1 semis. 2019 is the first time the Stings and Jaguars meet at the semi-finals, the Crinums have never lost to the Jaguars in a knock-out match. This year will also see the Flames and Stings square off for the first at this stage of the competition.
“As a company that has been involved in various sport sponsorships, netball was an unchartered territory for us and I must say, we were overly impressed by the various teams that have been participating here. The pace of the game has been very intense and quite competitive at the same time. We are beyond impressed and inspired to know our partnership with Netball South Africa has been this effective. To all the teams going into this finals weekend, we wish you all of the best,” said Gugu Mthembu, Telkom executive of brand and product.
There are three players who will be playing in their fifth semi-final this weekend: Stephanie Brandt (Stings), Kgomotso Itlhabanyeng (Flames) and Tonya von Berg (Crinums). Jasmine Ziegelmeier will play her fourth semis for the Jaguars this weekend.
The winner of the Telkom Netball League will pocket R250 000 in cash prize and the runners-up take home R150 000. Division 2 winner will pocket R100 000 in cash. Throughout the league, player of the match has been able to bank R3 000 and the player who has won the Twizza moment of the match has also taken home R3 000. This year also sees all the players being paid for participating in the league.
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