Under normal circumstances, there should be nothing to celebrate about a draw.
But such were the odds against Uganda marching into the Six Nations tournament in Singapore that ‘brilliant’ would be the ideal description of their performance in the 52-52 stalemate against Papua New Guinea yesterday.
Just 24 hours after shocking the world’s 28th ranked Republic of Ireland with a 54-41 victory at the Zhongshan Park, the She Cranes, who are the only unranked team in the tournament, surprised many after fighting back to hold 17th ranked Papua New Guinea.
And as had been for the victory in the first game, team captain Peace Proscovia was at the forefront of this remarkable result.
Proscovia netted 48 goals single-handedly against giants Papua New Guinea, who are the highest ranked side in the tournament.
At the start, Uganda panicked and Papua New Guinea took advantage of that, claiming a 35-21 lead at half time.
The 2008 tournament champions continued to rely on the experience gathered during their four years of participation in the event and took control of the third quarter.
But in the final quarter, Proscovia came to the fore.
The Uganda Christian University (UCU) student abandoned her Goal Shooting role (GS) and adopted the Goal Attacking role (GA) that allowed her to track the ball and score at will.
Martha Soigi contributed four goals as Uganda held the tournament title favourites to a draw. The result pushed Uganda to three points.
The She Cranes will need Proscovia at her best yet again when they encounter the undefeated hosts Singapore, who are ranked 21st in the world.
The home team is well known for its strong defense that comprises of Goal Defender (GD) Olivia Flanagan and Goal Keeper (GK) Aqilah Andin.
The two 6ft plus players will find their match in Proscovia, who is also Uganda’s tallest at 6ft plus as well.
Six Nations Cup
Uganda 52 Papua New Guinea 52
Today
Papua New Guinea v USA 10am
Ireland v Sri Lanka 12pm
Uganda v Singapore 2pm
By David Namunyala, The New Vision