MASERU — The Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) netball team says preparations for the Black Diamond games in Bloemfontein in December are in full swing.
LCS president ‘Makhotso Mokoatle said players were working extra hard to prepare for the games adding that they were buoyed by their success in the Durban Central Netball tournament last month.
“It was a great honour for us to represent the country internationally and still come back with our heads held high,” Mokoatle said.
“We worked very hard preparing for the tournament and are very happy that Lesotho’s flag was held high.”
LCS female side lost narrowly to South African side JNC Chapepa in the finals and picked M1 000 and silver medals in the process.
Mokoatle said the tournament had taught them important lessons and motivated them to work harder ahead of the Black Diamond games.
She said they were going to use lessons learnt from the tournament to prepare for the Bloemfontein tournament.
“This was a lesson for us as a team as we prepare for the Black Diamond and what we learnt is that hard work helps.
“We also learnt that we must always go the extra mile because our opponents would be doing the same. It is important that we stay ahead of our opponents,” Mokoatle said.
On the team’s road to the finals, the champions’ female team defeated four teams in the group stages — Ubuhle (20 – 16), Oceans (23-19), Uthungule (26-15) and Cheaters (23-15).
They then qualified for the quarter-finals were the side defeated Puma 12-6 before thrashing Mighty 22-17 in the semi-finals.
They however lost 8-12 to JNC Chapepa in the finals.
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There were 10 teams in the female category.
In the men’s category, the competition was played on a points system for the eight competing teams.
The locals won all their five matches against Puma (12-6), Eshoewe (23-6), Cheaters (23-3), Mighty (16-14) and Ethekweni (15-10).
They however lost 22-17 to Black Eagle and 20-15 to Classic, respectively.
The men’s team came third and won M500 and bronze medals.