Category: Tonga

Uganda stun South Africa to secure fifth spot while Malawi finish seventh

Uganda stun South Africa to secure fifth spot while Malawi finish seventh

An inspired Ugandan side stunned hosts South Africa, beating them by two goals to secure fifth spot at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town on Sunday. In the playoff for seventh place it was Malawi who got the better of Tonga.

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - AUGUST 06: Uganda celebrate winning during the Netball World Cup 2023, 5th/6th place match between South Africa and Uganda at Cape Town International Convention Centre, Court 1 on August 06, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Shaun Roy/Gallo Images/Netball World Cup 2023)

SOUTH AFRICA 47 – 49 UGANDA

Hosts South Africa played Uganda in an all-African showdown for fifth place at the Netball World Cup on Sunday. While the Proteas secured a two-goal victory over the She Cranes in their final group game just three days earlier, the rising Ugandans got the better of them in the same fifth-place playoff almost a year ago to the day at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Coming into the match, Uganda were already guaranteed their highest ever finish at a Netball World Cup – their previous best being seventh place in 2019 – and they took another massive step up in 2023, dethroning the South Africans as the top side in Africa to secure fifth spot with a 49-47 victory on Sunday.

The Ugandans came out showing their intent, turning over the first centre pass and racing to a four-goal lead before the South Africans could register on the scoreboard. Multiple unforced errors from the jittery Proteas saw them losing unnecessary possession and they spent much of the first period playing catchup. By the first break, the hosts had managed to close that gap to just one goal.

South African coach Norma Plummer switched Bongi Msomi to wing attack and the taller Izette Griesel to centre at the start of the second quarter as the South Africans slowly started swinging the momentum in their favour. But while the defenders earned plenty of turnovers – Jeanté Strydom particularly impressive in stealing two centre passes – the Proteas’ attack struggled to convert those into goals. Uganda continued to throw everything at the home side, with goal attack Shadiah Nassanga eventually receiving a warning for repeated obstruction just before haltftime, which the teams reached all tied up at 23-23.

The She Cranes came out looking the hungrier of the two sides in the third quarter which proved to be the decisive one. They took their time in their own attack, with Mary Cholhok and Irene Eyaru doing the business in the circle, and made the Proteas work hard for their goals.

The Ugandan defence did an excellent job of putting pressure on the usually reliable Nichole Taljaard, the star of South Africa’s draw with New Zealand earlier in the week. The goal attack was not at her best, throwing away plenty of ball and was pressured into taking fewer shots than normal.

Uganda headed into the final break with their noses in front but the Proteas managed to level matters at 40-40. The home team couldn’t push on from there, however. Yet another unforced error from the South Africans allowed Uganda to edge ahead and this time they didn’t look back, surging five goals in front at one stage. The She Cranes still held a two-goal lead heading into the final two minutes, and they slowed things right down, looking to hold on to possession to wind down the clock, and so securing a memorable 49-47 victory.

A thrilled Ugandan coach Fred Mugerwa said afterwards: “The match went the way we wanted it to go. When we went into that match my last words to the players were that we shouldn’t make the mistakes we made in the first match we played against South Africa because we gave them a lot of respect and because of that they went ahead by many goals.

“When we tried to catch up those goals, which we did, by the fourth quarter we were very tired and could not go beyond. So this time I told them we should start on a very high note and that’s where we should end and today, the game would not be over until it was over with the final whistle. Indeed this is exactly what they did and we eventually won so I’m very pleased with my girls that they listened to the instructions.”

She Cranes captain Irene Eyaru added: “On behalf of the team I’m so, so proud because we have been looking for a way of beating South Africa right from the word go. We wanted to show the whole world that Uganda is the best team in Africa… we decided to play our hearts out on court and if it means to die on court, we would die.”

South African coach Norma Plummer said afterwards: “Congratulations to Uganda. They kept possession of the ball, unfortunately, we wasted too many balls and you can’t afford to lose those sorts of balls. The game is possession and that’s where you win it. They took it to us, and they deserve the win in the end.” 

Captain Bongi Msomi added: “We obviously wanted to win, it was very important to try and give it our best shot and maintain our ranking. Like Norma said, we just gave away too many balls. Kudos to them, they played really well today. Disappointed obviously, I still need to go back and try and feel this, at this point, I don’t even know what to feel.” 

 Vice-captain Karla Pretorius said: “Just very disappointed with our result but it comes back to ourselves, we didn’t play the way were supposed to. They just put us under a lot of pressure and against a team like this, you don’t win a lot of balls and you need to capitalise on it, and we did not do that today. So it’s really disappointing, we really wanted that win.” 

SCORES

Q1: 11-12

Q2: 23-23 (12-11)

Q3: 37-39 (14-16)

Q4: 47-49 (10-10)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Mary Cholhok (Uganda)

 

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - AUGUST 05: Wales celebrate winning the Netball World Cup 2023, 9th/10th place match between Scotland and Wales at Cape Town International Convention Centre, Court 1 on August 05, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Shaun Roy/Gallo Images/Netball World Cup 2023)

MALAWI 64 – 54 TONGA

Following their 56-51 win on Thursday, the Malawi team triumphed again against Tonga on Sunday to finish seventh at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town.  

Tonga managed to establish a three-goal lead midway through the first 15 minutes by creating open spaces to move the ball into their goal circle. Defenders, Kelea Iongi and Lose Fainga’anuku, made things challenging for the Malawi shooters. 

Malawi launched a strong counterattack, with Joyce Mvula and Mwai Kumwenda making sure of their attempts at goal. The Queens caught up and even took a two-goal lead, leading 17-16 by the end of the first quarter. 

Tonga made changes to their starting lineup in the second quarter, introducing Salote Taufa at centre and veteran former Australian Diamond Mo’onia Gerrard at goal defence. Malawi increased their pace and Mvula’s movement out of the circle to collect passes led to more possession for Malawi. This allowed them to build a comfortable five-goal lead within eight minutes. 

Malawi’s first substitution occurred just before halftime, with Jane Dambo replacing Grace Mwafulirwa on wing defence. This intensified pressure on Tonga’s attack, and Malawi led 33-29 at halftime. 

The battle between centres Takondwa Lwazi and Hulita Veve continued in the third quarter. Both had been standout players for their teams throughout the tournament, excelling in both attack and defence. 

Tonga improved their structured play and defence in the third quarter, closing the gap to just one goal after seven minutes. They outscored Malawi 15-12 in the quarter, keeping their hopes of victory alive. 

Malawi’s line-up remained unchanged going into the fourth quarter, as the coaching staff stuck with what was working well. In the final seven minutes, Malawi secured more ball possession for their shooting circle and pulled ahead. With two minutes remaining, their lead stretched to 10 goals, which they maintained to the final whistle, so securing seventh spot in the tournament. 

Malawi captain Jane Chimaliro said her side were satisfied with the victory. 

“We are feeling good, we are happy that we’ve finished seventh. We failed to get position five so we are not happy about that. The competition was very tough from day one and we tried our best. I thank the girls that they managed to control the last quarter… The fans in the stands were there for us.” 

Tongan goal defence Mo’onia Gerrard remained proud of her team’s performance at what is only their second Netball World Cup and said: “It was tough but I think we put it on ourselves to be honest.

“This is our first campaign but we’ve had a taste of it during the championships, so I guess it’s character-building. I guess the girls now know they can’t just rely on their natural talent but they’ve got to put in extras at home to get to this point.

“But considering where we came from – like absolutely nowhere – it was an absolute dream of mine for Tonga to even get to a championship, to a World Cup. It’s just a great feeling and a great start for what our little nation can do.” 

SCORES: 

Q1: 17-16 

Q2: 33-29 (16-13) 

Q3: 45-44 (12-15) 

Q4: 64-54 (19-10)   

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Mwai Kumwenda (Malawi) 

South Africa and Uganda set up all-African battle for fifth place at the Netball World Cup

Friday, 4 August 2023: Uganda beat Malawi and South Africa got the better of Tonga in their Netball World Cup 2023 playoff matches at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Friday. That means the She Cranes and Proteas will play off for fifth place on Sunday, while Malawi will take on Tonga to decide seventh and eighth.

UGANDA 57-46 MALAWI 

Uganda recorded their first victory ever over Malawi at a Netball World Cup when they defeated their opponents 57-46 at the tournament in Cape Town on Friday.

With the win, the She Cranes advanced to Sunday’s fifth-place playoff which means, regardless of the result, they will achieve their highest placing at a World Cup. Their previous highest placing in their three other tournament appearances was seventh place in 2019 in Liverpool.  

Despite an initial four-goal lead by Uganda and pressure from the She Cranes, the Malawi Queens started playing with more confidence with some well-executed moves and drives down court. Goal attack Mwai Kumwenda commanded the circle, keeping her space well to take her team to within one goal. Goal shooter Joyce Mvula scored the equalising goal in the last minute of the first quarter and landed another one soon after to put Malawi one up. Uganda got one back, and the score reached 14-all.  

At the start of the second quarter, Mvula landed two goals in quick succession to hand Malawi the lead again. It wasn’t to last though as the She Cranes overtook them once again.  

It was a very physical encounter with the style of play typical of African netball and with players running hard at the ball. Uganda coach Fred Mugerwa was up and out of his seat at the side of the court throughout the match, shouting instructions and pointing to where he wanted his players to move.  

After initially struggling to keep away from Malawi goalkeeper Loreen Ngwira, Uganda goal shooter Mary Cholhok sank four goals on the trot to give her team a 28-23 lead at halftime.  

Uganda had the lion’s share of possession in the second quarter with 64 per cent and continued on the same trajectory in the third quarter, continuing to dominate Malawi in the third. This despite the efforts from the Malawi mid-court, led by centre Takondwa Lwazi, to feed the ball through to their goal circle.  

In the latter stages of the penultimate quarter, Malawi goal defence Towera Vinkhumbo received a warning from the umpire. The next misstep from her would have meant expulsion from the game for two minutes.  

Uganda enjoyed a healthy 43-35 lead heading into the final 15 minutes. The She Cranes kept the distance between themselves and the Queens, not allowing their opponents to get any grip on the match. 

With five minutes remaining, Uganda were 10 points clear and made certain of advancing to play for the fifth/sixth position on Sunday.  

Uganda coach Fred Mugerwa said the players panicked a bit in the first quarter and realised what was at stake.  

“The game was a bit tough and I told the girls to go out and fight. We wanted to win and that’s exactly what we did.” 

Malawi coach Sam Kanyenda reckoned: “We need to go back to the drawing board and from the result here see how best we can go forward. We believe we’ve got enough talent that can take us there and we’ve got to see how best we can adapt our strategy to take us where we want to be.” 

SCORES: 

Q1:14-14 

Q2: 28-23 (14-9) 

Q3: 43-35 (15-12) 

Q4: 57-46 (14-11) 

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Shadiah Nassanga (Uganda)  

SOUTH AFRICA 72 – 46 TONGA

Hosts South Africa took on Tonga on Friday in the battle to determine who will meet Uganda in the playoff for fifth place at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town.

South Africa’s Rugby World Cup-winning captain, Siya Kolisi, was among the vocal home crowd cheering for their side and willing them to a 72-46 victory.

The opening quarter was a tight one, with the teams remaining neck and neck throughout. The Proteas were turning plenty of ball, but their shooters were struggling to settle in the circle. Ine-Mari Venter converted only five of her nine shots before being replaced by Elmeré van der Berg towards the end of the period. Even the usually reliable Nichole Taljaard finished the first quarter with a 67 per cent shooting average at goal attack, although she improved that considerably in the rest of the match.

At the other end, former Silver Ferns star Cat Tuivaiti was shooting at 100 per cent at goal shooter, as was her goal attack Marie Hansen, meaning the Tongan Tala kept up with the Proteas to reach the first quarter break level on 12-12.

It was a different story in the second quarter, however, as Van der Berg made sure the South Africans’ efforts on defence were rewarded. The young goal shooter fired in 14 of her 14 attempts while Taljaard also settled to slot in all of her efforts. Tonga brought on veteran former Australian Diamond Mo’onia Gerrard at goalkeeper 12 minutes into the second quarter to try and stem the flow, but she couldn’t prevent the South Africans from taking a seven-goal lead into halftime.

The South Africans continued to build on that momentum in the third quarter, moving the ball down the court with ease and easily finding Van der Berg in the circle. That saw them extending their lead to 11 goals by the final break.

Having had a significant lead against Uganda whittled down in the final period a day earlier, the Proteas would have been determined not to allow a repeat scenario against Tonga. They did that in some style. Even with South African coach Norma Plummer bringing on Khanyisa Chawane, Owethu Ngubane, Shadine van der Merwe and Nicola Smith as late replacements, the Proteas continued to storm ahead, winning the quarter by 25 goals to 10 and securing their place in Sunday’s fifth-place playoff with a 72-46 victory.

Speaking after the match, Proteas captain Bongi Msomi said” “Firstly I want to say I’m really proud of the team. Coming here we only had one loss to Jamaica… we drew against New Zealand and we actually just can’t have a semifinal based on goal difference and I think that, we can be proud of.

“We had a chat yesterday and I’m quite pleased to see that the girls could bounce back from that disappointment, because it was quite disappointing, and come here today and really just want to play what we called our semifinal. We have a ‘final’ against Uganda on Sunday.

“They’re a really good side and they actually gave it to us when we played yesterday so we’re looking forward to another battle. You can’t really shy away from the fact that we’re ranked fifth. We want to finish at least fifth at this stage… I’m really still proud of the girls. I thought there was some great netball being played by the Spar Proteas and to see that the youngsters are coming through, really playing good netball. That is something we can take forward and be proud of what is happening in netball in South Africa.”

Tonga wing attack Salote Taufa said it is a dream come true to play out for seventh spot in Tonga’s second appearance at a Netball World Cup.

“We are all just taking it in as it comes. We are a little nation trying to put our country on the map and shake things up a bit. And I think we definitely did that. We look beyond it being a game of netball, we are a family and we bring that into our game.”

SCORES

Q1:12-12

Q2: 30-23 (18-11)

Q3: 47-36 (17-13)

Q4: 72-46 (25-10)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Elmeré van der Berg (South Africa)

South Africa eke out victory over Uganda as Malawi hold on against Tonga

South Africa eke out victory over Uganda as Malawi hold on against Tonga

Thursday, 3 August 2023: Hosts South Africa had the vocal home crowd on the edge of their seats as they just managed to pip Uganda by two goals to secure third spot in Group G. In the other match of the evening, fellow Africans Malawi held on for victory against Tonga to make sure of third place in Group F.

 

SOUTH AFRICA 52 – 50 UGANDA  

South Africa avenged their 2022 Commonwealth Games loss to Uganda by beating the She Cranes 52-50 in a Pool G match at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town.  

 

The result ended the Proteas’ hopes of progressing to the semifinals as they needed to secure an unlikely victory margin of more than 64 goals and keep their opponents from scoring more than 20 to make that happen.

 

Goal attack Ine-Mari Venter had a better start compared to Wednesday’s match against New Zealand, being successful with all her attempts. Uganda however struggled with short passes around their own goal circle.  

 

Uganda’s star shooter, Mary Cholhok, found it challenging against South Africa’s Phumza Maweni. The Protea defender had Cholhok properly boxed in with little room to stamp her authority.  

 

South Africa’s swift ball movement across the court troubled Uganda, preventing them from executing their attacking style effectively. During the second quarter, South Africa extended their lead to 10 goals, with Maweni continuing to disrupt Cholhok. 

 

Uganda made their first substitutions 10 minutes before halftime, but that didn’t have any effect as the South Africans went into the break 33-19 in front.

 

The third quarter was entirely dominated by Uganda, as they outscored South Africa by nine goals (17-8), finding their rhythm and quickly narrowing the gap. 

 

In the final quarter, Uganda came out onto the court clearly intent on snatching the victory away from the hosts. And they almost did. Having been 12 goals down at one point, they managed to equalise the score at 42-all within four minutes. 

 

The match became physical at times, something Uganda coach Fred Mugerwa commented on afterwards.  

 

A crucial intercept under the Uganda goal post by goal defence Nicola Smith turned the ball back to the South African goal circle and the Proteas managed to secure a 52-50 win.   

 

Proteas captain Bongi Msomi said her side went into the game against Uganda to give it their all in an attempt to reach the semifinals.

 

“At halftime it felt like we still had a chance. You always have a chance until you don’t have. At this stage it’s disappointing, We have to focus on keeping our ranking because Uganda is really good. If we are going to come up against them again, they are going to come hard.” 

 

Mugerwa said they underestimated the way the match would play out. 

 

“It was a bit physical and that’s why we were trailing by 14 goals at halftime. When we went to the dressing room I told the girls to be a bit harder and not lose hope, we have to fight for the country. And we recovered, it is unfortunate that we couldn’t take it.” 

 

SCORES

Q1: 16-11  

Q2: 33-19 (17-8) 

Q3; 41-36 (8-17) 

Q4: 52-50 (11-14)  

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Shadiah Nassanga (Uganda)  

 

TONGA 51 – 56 MALAWI

Tonga took on Malawi for the first time at a Netball World Cup in the match to determine third and fourth place in Group F.  It was the Malawi Queens who emerged victorious, claiming the 56-51 win.

Having secured the win, Malawi will now play fourth place in Group G, Uganda, while Tonga go on to play the third-placed team in the same group, South Africa. The winners of these matches will play off for fifth and sixth place.

Tonga got away to a fast start, leading by three goals at one point, but the Malawi Queens came back at them in what was, as predicted, a physical encounter. The scores were level on 13-13 at the first break.

It was a completely different story at the start of the second quarter, however, with Tonga taking over five minutes to score their first goal, while Malawi suddenly upped the energy and speed to race into a significant lead.

Tonga brought on former Silver Ferns star Cat Tuivaiti at goal shooter and Salote Taufa at wing attack to try and steady the ship but the damage had been done at the start of the quarter. Tonga did, however, manage to reduce the deficit, heading into halftime just five goals down.

Former Australian Diamonds player Mo’onia Gerrard was also brought on for Tonga at the start of the third quarter while Malawi lost stalwart Mwai Kumwenda to an apparent injury midway through the period. There was just one goal difference in the quarter score (15-14) but Malawi still enjoyed a six-goal lead at the final break.

Kumwenda was back in action at the start of the final quarter but the Malawians looked to be tiring somewhat, making for an exciting period of play in which the Tongans looked to take advantage. With both sets of singing fans in full voice on opposite sides of the court, it was the Malawians who were left celebrating the loudest as their team wrapped up a 56-51 win – all the damage having been done at the start of that second quarter.

Speaking after the match, Malawi coach Sam Kanyenda said: “Fortunately we’ve played Tonga before. We played them this year when we went for the [PacificAus] series in Australia so we had a view of how they play.

“That time around we only used locally based players so they beat us and we knew if we went soft on them, then the game was going to be tough on us. So we had a gameplan whereby we said we go tough on them… I’m very happy for today’s win.”

As for Friday’s showdown with Uganda, Kanyenda added: “Our game is not like that played of other countries but tomorrow’s match will be a very tough match because we’re almost playing a similar pattern of play.”

Giving her thought on where Malawi got the edge over her side, Tonga coach Pori-Makea-Simpson said: “They get this beautiful fluency in their attack end. They’re very, very patient with the ball and they play a short game which can be difficult defensively and for us we like an offline game. We had to change that up and we did struggle to actually slow down their short game but I’m so proud of the effort our girls put out there. It’s quite remarkable given their inexperience.”

 

SCORES

Q1: 13-13

Q2: 26-31 (13-18)

Q3: 40-46 (14-15)

Q4: 51-56 (11-10)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Towera Vinkhumbo (Malawi)

Day 5 reports: England into semis, wins for Tonga, Zimbabwe

Just like Australia did with their win against Malawi earlier in the day, England secured their place in the semi-finals with a victory over Fiji at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town.

Tonga’s victory over Scotland ensured they will finish no lower than ninth, while it was Zimbabwe who triumphed in the battle of the bottom sides, claiming their first win of the tournament.

FIJI 28-89 ENGLAND

World number three England took on Fiji for the fifth time at a Netball World Cup and made it five wins from five in clinical fashion with a 28-89 victory in Cape Town on Tuesday. That saw them securing their spot in the semifinals with one game to play in the second round of preliminaries.

The Roses came out firing from the start. They proved solid on defence in the first quarter and even more deadly on attack with both shooters achieving a 100 per cent record and cruising to their highest quarter score of the tournament so far, taking a 26-8 lead into the first break.

Chelsea Pitman came on at wing attack at the start of the second quarter to earn her 50th England cap.

Fiji struggled to keep up with England’s pace as the Roses maintained their intensity in the second quarter. Another excellent showing from Imogen Allison – first at centre and then wing defence saw her turning plenty of ball to feed her rock-solid shooters. England’s slick connections saw them reaching the 50-goal mark by halftime, with Helen Housby maintaining her 100 per cent average, sinking 21 from 21.

The Pearls slowed England down somewhat in the third quarter, but not enough to have any major impact on the course of the game as England took a 46-goal lead into the final break.

The Fijians managed to score only five goals in the final period as England ran away with the 89-28 victory to book their spot in Saturday’s semifinals. The Roses’ showdown with Australia on Thursday will determine which side will top the group.

Despite the loss, Fiji were already assured of finishing higher than they did at the 2019 Netball World Cup after safely negotiating their way through the first group stage – so securing a place of 12th or higher.

England goal shooter Eleanor Cardwell was named Most Valuable Player after finishing the match with 40 goals from her 41 attempts for a 97.6 shooting average.

“I’m pretty pleased today,” said Cardwell afterwards. “Jess gave me the task of trying to shoot some longer shots today so I think I tried my best to do that. I’m pretty proud of all the team’s performance of what we put up today.”

As for her plans for a first hard-earned day off on Wednesday, Cardwell reckoned: “Sleep, sleep, eat, sleep. That’s about it. Might go on a little walk, venture out and actually see a bit of South Africa but hopefully lots of sleep.”

Fiji coach Unaisi Rokoura said afterwards it was a tough day at the office for her team.

"We knew England were going to be very tight defensively and we had to go hard at the ball from the beginning. In the first quarter we got some of the possession but we just didn’t capitalise on it and England took advantage of that,” she said.

“We came with a very young team and we've seen them grow in the last year as we prepared for the World Cup. They’ve now had the opportunity to play against the very big teams.”

SCORES
Q1: 8-26
Q2: 15-50 (7-24)
Q3: 23-69 (8-19)
Q4: 28-89 (5-20)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Eleanor Cardwell (England)

TONGA 55-47 SCOTLAND

Tonga and Scotland faced off for the first time at a Netball World Cup in a Group F encounter in Cape Town on Tuesday, and it was the Tongan Tala who emerged as 55-47 winners.

The Scots missed several goals early in the first quarter, so allowing Tonga to get away from them and, perhaps, shaking their confidence. At the other end of the court, Tongan goal shooter Uneeq Palavi was once again a pillar of strength, however, putting in 12 of her 13

attempts in the first period. Her combination with centre Hulita Veve was also as impressive as ever, as the Tongans headed into the first break five goals up.

Scotland’s Emma Barrie came on for the struggling Beth Goodwin at goal shooter at the start of the second quarter, which proved to be a more even affair, ending on 13-13. Former Australian Diamond Mo’onia Gerrard had replaced Kelea Iongi at goal defence and

continued to put pressure on the Scottish shooters, whose average stood at just 69.7 per cent at halftime, compared to Tonga’s 84.8 per cent.

Scotland improved those numbers in the third number, slotting in 12 of their 14 attempts,

but with the damage already done, it was not enough to reel in the Tongans who continued to build on their lead, stretching it to nine goals by the final break.

A frantic final 15 minutes followed with the Thistles suddenly producing the intensity that was previously lacking and managing to win the quarter by one goal. But it was too little too late as the Tongans wrapped up the win to ensure they’ll finish no lower that ninth in the tournament.

Palavi was named Most Valuable Player and said: “Scotland was very physical – we expected that from them. But we also expected that from ourselves and it was a good match-up against them. 

“I think we just had the confidence. We came in blazing because we really wanted to prove ourselves after the previous losses against England and Australia. We just really wanted to cement ourselves in the rankings.”

Hannah Leighton, who did not receive the gift she would have wanted on her 25th birthday,

was impressive for Scotland in midcourt. She said a lack of consistency has let her side down.

“I think a lot of the things we were doing were good,” she said. “We were driving the ball through court and we were creating opportunities to win ball. I just think we need to be a lot more consistent throughout the game and just, at those key points, make sure that we’re still sticking to our structures and taking the ball forward with intent to goal.”

SCORES

Q1: 15-10
Q2: 28-23 (13-13)

Q3: 44-35 (16-12)
Q4: 55-47 (11-12)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Uneeq Palavi (Tonga)

ZIMBABWE 71-36 SRI LANKA

With pride and honour on the line, Zimbabwe scored their first victory of the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town when they beat Sri Lanka 71-36 in a Pool E match. 

The Gems started strongly, scoring four consecutive goals, causing immediate changes in positions for the Sri Lankan team on the court. Progress Moyo impressed with her excellent play on wing attack, controlling the mid-court and providing quality passes to the Zimbabwe goal circle. Shooters Nalani Makunde and Nicole Muzanenamo made the most of their opportunities, missing only one goal, and giving their team a comfortable 33-22 lead at halftime. 

In the second quarter, Sri Lanka performed better, scoring only three goals less than Zimbabwe and holding 60 per cent of the possession. 

However, in the last 30 minutes of the match, Zimbabwe, ranked 13th, dominated over 15th-ranked Sri Lanka, who seemed disheartened and unable to respond to the challenge. 

In the Zimbabwe circle, Muzanenamo displayed impressive split landings despite her small stature and was recognised for her outstanding performance with the Most Valuable Player award. 

In the final 15 minutes of the one-sided match, Zimbabwe continued their impressive play, scoring 19 goals while limiting Sri Lanka to just six, to wrap up the emphatic victory. 

Muzanenamo expressed her delight with her team’s performance.  “I would like to thank my teammates for not giving up, they did very well and did not give up until the very last minute,” she said. “I told myself whenever I get the opportunity, I’m going to give my best. We have also learned from our mistakes and we are going to work on that and keep on fighting.” 

SCORES:   
Q1: 17-10 
Q2: 33-22 (15-12) 
Q3: 52-30 (19-8) 
Q4: 71-36 (19-6) 

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Nicole Muzanenamo (Zimbabwe)

Day 3 match reports: Wins for England, Uganda, Jamaica, Tonga

Hosts South Africa were handed their first loss of the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town on Sunday, as Jamaica secured top spot in Group C. England topped Group B with victory over Scotland while Uganda and Tonga also recorded victories to ensure their progress to the second round of the preliminaries which starts on Monday.

ENGLAND 62-37 SCOTLAND

Group B leaders England took on Scotland for the 10 th time at a Netball World Cup on Sunday afternoon in Cape Town and comfortably made it a perfect 10 out of 10 against the Thistles.

Coming off a good win against Barbados a day earlier, the Scots headed into the clash against a side ranked seven places above them full of fire. They managed to inch ahead at the start and were 3-4 up at one point, but a run of six unanswered goals from England saw the Roses levelling matters and then surging ahead. They took that five-goal lead into the first break.

England’s Olivia Tchine and Helen Housby effectively built on that lead in the second quarter as Scotland squandered several opportunities through basic errors. There was some concern as England centre Imogen Allison left the court in the final minute of the first half with what looked like a knock to the shoulder.

The third quarter was a good one for Scotland with several promising passages of play as they enjoyed more ball and put the English under a little more pressure.

But ultimately, although England’s scoring rate wasn’t as high as in their previous matches, they remained in control of proceedings and passed a memorable milestone in the third quarter, Tchine slotting in England’s 8000th goal in Netball World Cup history.

Their 62-37 victory saw England through to the second preliminary stage at the top of Group B with Scotland also progressing as the third-placed side in the group.

England wing attack Chelsea Pitman was named Most Valuable Player and said: “It’s amazing. I didn’t shy away from the fact that this was a goal of mine, to work my way back into the Roses and get to the World Cup so to be here and just be around the girls and feeling this environment is something really special… so I’m just a happy chappy.”

Speaking about England’s progress to the next stage, Layla Guscoth added: “It’s been a good three games. It’s been three completely different styles so I think that’s prepared us well going through to the next phase of things. I think it’s just about building, there’s nothing new that we need to do going into these two phases. It’s just about reflecting on what we’ve done and keep building and pushing towards the end goal.”

Scotland coach Tamsin Greenway, who represented England at three Netball World Cups as a player, said: “I’m really pleased if you understand what our processes are. We know our journey. We came here to challenge Malawi and we did it. We came here to beat Barbados and we did it. We came here to practise against England and learn and we did that.

“We’ve made improvements from 2019, we put into place some things I needed to fix from our last two games… we did all those things so I’m very happy.”

SCORES
Q1: 14-9
Q2: 31-18 (17-9)
Q3: 46-29 (15-11)
Q4: 62-37 (16-8)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Chelsea Pitman (England)

UGANDA 74-33 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 

It may not have been as clinical as they wanted it to be, but Uganda nevertheless outclassed Trinidad & Tobago 74-33 at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town on Sunday.  

On Saturday, eight-ranked Uganda went toe-to-toe with defending world champions New Zealand, only losing by 10 points. They scored a historical win over South Africa at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, relegating the Proteas to sixth position.  

The Ugandans started Sunday’s match without shooter Mary Cholhok, at 2.01 metres the second tallest player in Cape Town, instead opting for Christine Namulumba and Irene Eyaru in the circle.

Cholhok recently was the leading goal scorer in the UK Netball Super League, scoring 908 goals at an average of 50 per match.  

Trinidad and Tobago got the scoreboard going, pouncing on a few loose balls from Uganda and they managed to grab an early lead within the opening minutes. Sloppy work in midcourt by the Calypso Girls, however, saw the She Cranes getting on track to equalise and then build some breathing space. They held a narrow three-point lead after the first quarter. 

Cholhok moved in under the pole for the second quarter while Shaffie Nalwanja (wing defence) switched places with Christine Nakitto (goal defence). Cholhok teaming up with Eyaru proved to be the right decision as both made sure of their shots to put points on the board and put Uganda 33-18 in the lead at halftime.  

Initially it looked like Uganda was slowing down the pace of play considerably at the start of the third quarter, possibly a tactical decision to conserve energy for the next round of matches. However, the all-important third quarter turned out to be the She Cranes’ highest scoring one with 21 goals scored.  

In the last 15 minutes Uganda simply drove it home with clinical precision. They did the basics well and moved the ball down court with ease as Trinidad and Tobago ran out of gas.  

Uganda’s Irene Eyaru was named the Most Valuable Player of the match. As goal attack she scored 18 out of 19 goals. In the third and fourth quarters, she played wing attack. 

Speaking after the match, She Cranes goalkeeper Haniisha Muhameed said her side are ready for the rest of the tournament. 

“We wanted to win today, so we now have to go and do it, we are ready for it, mentally and physically. Every time you have the opportunity to go out there and play, it’s a good feeling. We are looking forward to the rest.” 

SCORES: 
Q1: 14-11 
Q2: 33-18 (19-7) 
Q3: 50-27 (21-9) 
Q4: 74-33 (20-6) 

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Irene Eyaru (Uganda) 

JAMAICA 67-49 SOUTH AFRICA

In the most hotly anticipated showdown of the first stage of preliminary matches, hosts South Africa faced off against Commonwealth Games silver medallists Jamaica to determine which side would top Group C.

In a surprise move, South Africa’s Lenize Potgieter was included in the starting seven, taking to the court for the first time in the tournament, with both knees heavily strapped.

It was a nervous start for both sides with possession changing hands three times before the opening goal was scored by Jamaica. The Sunshine Girls edged ahead in the opening minutes before the Proteas levelled at 8-all and then took the lead for the first time soon after. But some silly errors from the home side proved expensive and the Jamaicans capitalised to take a four-goal lead into the first break.

The Sunshine Girls then began to dominate in the second quarter, easily finding goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler in the circle and the Proteas soon found themselves nine goals down.

Despite massive encouragement from Potgieter, Elmeré van der Berg looked somewhat overwhelmed at goal attack and was soon replaced by the more confident Nichole Taljaard. Her

introduction had an immediate impact and the Proteas worked hard to close the gap, but they were still eight goals down at halftime.

The error count continued to rise for the South Africans in a disastrous third quarter, allowing the Jamaicans to take an even firmer grip on the game. The Sunshine Girls defence was particularly effective in preventing Potgieter from getting any ball in the circle and with five minutes remaining in the quarter, the South Africans had scored just one goal. The damaging third period for the hosts finished 20-3 in favour of the Caribbean nation.

Ine-Mari Venter was brought on to replace Potgieter at goal shooter for the final quarter and Shadine van der Merwe at wing defence while captain Bongi Msomi returned to centre. It was a better 15 minutes from the South Africans, who actually won the quarter by five goals, but that did little to dent the massive gap that the rampant Jamaicans had built by then.

The 67-49 win sees Jamaica progressing to the second stage of the preliminaries top of Group C, so providing a potentially smoother path to the semifinals.

Jamaican defender Jodi-Ann Ward was duly rewarded for her efforts by being named Most Valuable Player.

Speaking after the match, Jamaica’s assistant coach Keyan Murdock said: “We are pretty pleased in terms of the overall performance. The third quarter was impressive but I know we were playing a quality team so we expected the challenge that came from them. The final score doesn’t reflect how hard the game was so kudos to the South Africans in terms of how hard they played.”

South African captain Bongi Msomi remained positive after the match, saying: “It’s always best to play in front of your home crowd but mostly I’m pleased with how we started. The girls really stood strong.

“There were a few patches where we could have been better… I think this is a lesson. The World Cup doesn’t stop today. Yes, there are couple of tough games that we are going to come up against but if we can put together some of the great performances we had today, I think we can look forward to what’s next.”

SCORES
Q1: 16-12
Q2: 32-26 (16-14)
Q3: 52-29 (20-3)
Q4: 67-49 (15-20)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Jodi-Ann Ward (Jamaica)

TONGA 55-46 ZIMBABWE  

Not even a passionate group of Zimbabwean fans staying on their feet, singing and dancing throughout the match could prevent the Gems from suffering a 54-46 loss against Tonga at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town on Sunday. 

For the African team it was their third successive defeat while Tonga added Sunday’s win to their victory over Fiji on the opening day of the tournament. They lost to Australia on Saturday.  

Tonga shooter Cathrine Tuivaiti came on court in the last minutes of the match. She is representing her third country having previously played for Samoa and New Zealand. This is her second World Cup after playing for Samoa at the 2007 tournament in Auckland. 

Zimbabwe initially created brilliant attacking moves with the ball landing in the circle regularly and with shooters Sharon Bwanali and Tafadzwa Matura scoring at 100 per cent. The Gems’ sharp passing put added pressure on the Tongan defence and they took an early lead. However, the Talas then started dishing out some of the same medicine and ended the first quarter three goals ahead.  

The next 15 minutes saw the momentum stay with Tonga as defenders Mo'onia Gerrard and Kelea Iongi made it difficult for the Zimbabwean attacking players to create openings. Tonga’s mid-court 

players further took control of the game. The Gems did manage to pull it back somewhat in the last minutes before halftime, but Tonga went into the break still leading 27-24. 

The second half of the match was a seesaw battle. The Gems continued applying pressure on Tonga as the Islanders were trying to move through the court and feed the ball into their goal circle.

Tonga’s shooters however remained composed and made sure of the chances to score that did come their way.  

As the final 15 minutes began, Zimbabwe found themselves trailing by nine goals. They tried to stage a comeback and cause a possible upset against a team ranked six places higher on the latest world rankings. The clock however was against them.  

Zimbabwe assistant coach Wisdom Shinya said their failure to maintain the early pressure on their opponents is what cost them the game. 

“It was an issue of mental fitness and also endurance, it’s coming up now to a point where the players are tired. We tried whatever we could have done but it wasn’t our day.” 

According to Shinya, his side need more exposure on international level to be more competitive.  

“We need to play more friendlies, not only with the African teams, we need to play against the big giants so that we can adjust to their level of play. Our players need to be out there.” 

SCORES 
Q1: 14-11 
Q2: 27-24 (13-13) 
Q3: 42-33 (14-9) 
Q4: 55 -46 13-13) 

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Kelea Iongi (Tonga)

Match reports, day 2: Wins for SA, England, Scotland,Trinidad&Tobago, Jamaica

South Africa thrill home crowd with convincing victory as England cruise and Scotland claim first win

Hosts South Africa claimed an emphatic victory over Sri Lanka while world No. 3 England had no trouble in getting past the Malawi Queens at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town on Saturday. In other matches, Scotland earned their first win of the tournament with victory over Barbados while Trinidad and Tobago did the same against Singapore.

 

SOUTH AFRICA 87 – 32 SRI LANKA

 Taking to the court in brightly coloured Ndebele-inspired dresses with the stands in the Cape Town International Convention Centre packed with enthusiastically cheering local fans, South Africa crushed Sri Lanka 87-32 at the Netball World Cup 2023 on Saturday.  

The South African starting line-up looked a little different from the one that beat Wales a day earlier. Elmeré van der Berg got another chance, this time moving to goal shooter, with Nichole Taljaard moving to goal attack. Izette Griesel started on centre in the place of Khanyisa Chawane and Nicola Smith got the nod at goalkeeper ahead of Karla Pretorius.  

For Sri Lanka, there was no Tharjini Sivalingam, who, at 2.06 metres is the tallest player at this year’s World Cup. At the age of 44, she is also the oldest.  

South Africa shut out any Sri Lankan playmaking from the get-go while stamping their authority on proceedings. The Proteas’ opponents were frustrated with their inability to have any say in the one-sided match, with wing defence Bhashini De Silva copping a caution towards the end of the first quarter. 

Sri Lanka could not score consecutive goals as especially Griesel managed to intercept numerous balls. Griesel, playing in her third Netball World Cup, had a solid game at centre, and the same went for Jeanté Strydom who made her Proteas debut against Wales. She deservedly walked away with the award for most valuable player. South Africa went into the halftime break 45-18 up. 

Pretorius earned her 100th cap for South Africa when she came on in the third quarter, replacing Shadine van der Merwe at goal defence. Captain Bongi Msomi also got a well-deserved break with Chawane putting on the centre bib and Griesel moving to wing attack.  

The Proteas piled even more pressure on Sri Lanka, adding 23 goals in the third quarter and stretching their lead to 44. 

In the last 15 minutes, Ine-Marie Venter, the most valuable player against Wales, assumed the goal shooter position, earning her 50th cap while Phumza Maweni came off the bench to resume her defensive partnership with Pretorius.  

With nine minutes to go, South Africa stretched their lead to 50 points for the first time. They then seemed to take their foot off the pedal somewhat with the victory secured and not wanting to risk serious injury ahead of what promises to be a pulsating affair against Jamaica on Sunday. 

Pretorius said it was fantastic celebrating a milestone like a 100th cap for one’s country on home soil as well as in front of family and friends.  

“The highlight of my career must be the 2019 World Cup where I got the player of the tournament award. And then earlier this year the Quad series [against New Zealand, Australia, England] when I returned after having my daughter Kara, putting in the hard work to get out on court again,” she said. 

A beaming Strydom said she’s never felt prouder in her life. 

“I’m sitting here next to three legends of the game, 100 caps and 160 caps [for Pretorius and Msomi] and Norma on her 100th win yesterday. With me only on two caps, this is the best feeling in the world, and I can’t actually describe how I’m feeling, it’s overwhelming.” 

SCORES: 

Q1: 24-9  

Q2: 45-18 (21-9)  

Q3: 68-24 (23-6)  

Q4: 87-32 (19-8) 

 

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Jeanté Strydom  

 

SCOTLAND 53 – 44 BARBADOS

Scotland and Barbados faced off at the Netball World Cup for a seventh time in the tournament’s history with both sides chasing their first win of the 2023 event in Cape Town. Their previous head-to-head record stood at 4-2 in favour of the Bajans but Scotland closed that gap with a 53-44 victory on Saturday.

Barbados had suffered a 29-90 loss at the hands of England while Scotland were edged out 49-55 by Malawi after the African nation staged a massive comeback in their clash on the opening day of the tournament on Friday.

While both teams struggled slightly to find their rhythm in the opening period, a run of five unanswered goals at the end of the quarter saw the Scots taking an 11-8 lead into the first break.

A slicker performance from the Bajan Gems with fewer errors meant they were able to level matters in the second quarter, however, with the teams all square on 23-all by halftime.

Just like they did in their game against England a day earlier, Barbados lost some focus in the third quarter, and Scotland took advantage – producing several solid periods of play to build up a five-goal lead.

With their noses in front and the prospect of a first victory of the tournament in sight, the Scots managed to extend that advantage in the final quarter to wrap up a 53-44 victory.

After notching up a 93.5 per cent shooting average, Scottish goal attack Niamh McCall was named Most Valuable Player.

Speaking about how her side managed to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss to Malawi a day earlier, McCall explained: “To be honest, we did have that chat and it was a case of drawing a line and saying today is a new day. It was important that we got the win today because that’s what we came here to do was win, so I’m really happy and proud of our team performance.”

As for the MVP award, she added: “It’s really difficult getting the award because I feel like that was a full team performance but I can’t not be happy with my stats compared to yesterday… I’m really happy that I was able to step up and shoot them in today.”

Barbados wing attack Sasha Corbin, who together with her sister Kadeen previously represented England, was devasted by the result, saying: “I think we showed fight today. We definitely took some good stuff from the game yesterday against England.

“I think that last bit we didn’t push on and we didn’t always have the options. We just struggled a little bit on that but you can’t fault the defence. We tried so hard to get ball, we tried to look after turnovers. We’re just gutted, to be honest.

“We need to look after our possession and today we fell short and threw some annoying passes away, silly errors so I’m pleased with how we came out fighting but we now need to learn how to finish games properly.”

SCORES

Q1: 11-8

Q2: 23-23 (12-15)

Q3: 38-33 (15-10)

Q4: 53-44 (15-11)

 

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Niamh McCall (Scotland)

 

ENGLAND 62 – 39 MALAWI

In the fifth meeting between England and Malawi at a World Cup, the Roses made it five out of five when they beat the Queens 62-39 in Cape Town.  

England was fresh off a massive 90-29 win over Barbados on Friday while Malawi scored a come-from-behind victory over Scotland. Before Saturday, the last time the two squads faced each other was at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The Roses dominated throughout the match then and comfortably beat Malawi 66-41.  

Saturday’s match kicked off with England unable to convert their first centre pass, and Malawi capitalised on this opportunity, securing an early lead. A familiar face for fans of the Netball Super League in the UK was Malawi goal shooter Joyce Mvula who previously played for Manchester Thunder.  

England seemed to be caught off guard by their opponents’ skilful play through the court, with the African side remaining within touching distance and finishing the first quarter only two goals behind. In the next 15 minutes, however, mistakes began creeping into Malawi’s general play, granting the Roses some breathing space and relief. The score at halftime was 29-20 in favour of England.  

As the second half got under way, it was clear England managed to overcome their rocky start to the match with a much-improved performance. Their defensive end found stability with the reliable combination of Geva Mentor and Layla Guscoth. The experience of these two players added a sense of assurance to their performance. 

In the third quarter, the umpires called time when Malawi centre Takondwa Lwazi took a significant fall and went down in a heap of pain. Her teammates helped her off court and it seemed it was the end of the match for her. She did however return in the last 15 minutes.   

England pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Malawi by 10 goals and at the same time not allowing their opponents to score more than twice in succession. The Queens regained some ground in the last 15 minutes, but a repeat of Friday’s comeback exploits against Scotland was not to be.  

England goal shooter Helen Housby was awarded the Most Valuable Player for a good all-around performance in the circle. She landed all 17 of her shots at goal.  

England coach Jess Thirlby was once again pleased with her team’s efforts.

“I think we’ve prepared well for styles like this. I think it’s important to respect the opposition. We really look forward to the challenge of different levels of physicality and different styles of play so we kind of knew what to expect and we also know tactically how to be smart about it,” she said.

“I think everyone has had a test today and I think it’s perfect to get a test so soon on day two. We felt prepared for this game and I think we shouldn’t really wipe away a 20-plus goal win against such a quality side as anything other than a great step in the right direction.”

Malawi captain Jane Chimaliro said it was unfortunate that her side couldn’t continue with their good performance from the first quarter. 

“We came hard at them in the first quarter and it started very well for us,” she said. “The game was very close but I think we lost concentration and consistency in the third quarter, and that’s why we lost the game. And then we didn’t play well in the last quarter.” 

 

SCORES: 

Q1: 12-10 

Q2: 29-20 (17-10)  

Q3: 48-29 (19-9)  

Q4: 62-39 (14-10) 

 

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Helen Housby  

 

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 49-36 SINGAPORE

Trinidad and Tobago raced into a seven-goal lead before Singapore could make any impression on the scoreboard in their Group D encounter. But the Asian side did well to rally and close that gap. Singapore’s shooters struggled with their accuracy though, goal attack Kai Wei Toh sinking just one of her seven attempts in the first quarter as the Caribbean team headed into the first break 13-10 up.

Singapore’s scoring woes continued in the second quarter, but with Trinidad and Tobago also squandering several chances to find their shooters at the other end of the court, the match remained a tight one. Evidence of this was the fact that just 17 goals were scored in total in the 15-minute period.

In the end, it was Trinidad and Tobago’s physicality and superior shooting accuracy that triumphed over Singapore’s speed. They started pulling away in the third quarter and extended their lead in the fourth to wrap up a 49-36 victory – their first of the Netball World Cup 2023.

That also saw the Calypso Girls extending their record of wins over Singapore at the Netball World Cup to six out of six.

Trinidad and Tobago goal shooter Afeisha Noel was named Most Valuable Player and said: “A first win for Trinidad and Tobago is really good. To come out of this group in the top three is an honour.

“I think our composure made the difference today. We went to the changeroom and we spoke as a team, the coach spoke to us and told us to regroup and then we came back out and we dominated… Our coach always tells us short and sharp passes and that’s what we did.”

Singapore goal shooter Amandeep Chahal said: “I did get a few pushes and nudges but I guess that’s just the physicality of the game, so you just have to stand strong.

As for her side’s troubles in the shooting circle, Chahal added: “I guess we just have to regroup and come back stronger tomorrow, work on our shooting and shooter passes, like triangles and stuff, just to bring the ball closer and improve the accuracy.”

 

SCORES

Q1: 13-10

Q2: 21-19 (8-9)

Q3: 34-30 (13-11)

Q4: 49-36 (15-6)

 

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER:  Afeisha Noel (Trinidad and Tobago)

Match reports, day 2: Wins for Fiji, NZ, Australia, Jamaica

Fiji pulled off an upset victory in their must-win match against Zimbabwe while three of the tournament favourites, Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica, all recorded victories on the second day of action at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town – albeit not without some tough competition from their gutsy opponents.

ZIMBABWE 48-52 FIJI

Both Zimbabwe and Fiji were hungry for their first wins of the tournament after suffering opening day losses at the hands of Australia and Tonga respectively.

Playing against each other for the first time at a Netball World Cup, it was a tightly contested opening quarter. A run of five unanswered goals saw Zimbabwe pulling ahead at one point but the Fiji Pearls came back at them, effectively making use of the soon-to-be- outlawed short pass to eventually level matters at 11-11. By the first break, Zimbabwe had just edged ahead by two goals.

The second quarter was once again a neck-and-neck affair, Fiji levelling matters five minutes in and then taking a one-goal lead into the halftime break.

Fiji notched up another impressive scoring run towards the end of the third quarter to surge nine goals ahead at one point and didn’t look back from there. The Pearls opened their gap to 10 goals at one point, and while the Zimbabweans did rally in the final quarter, winning it 13-9, it was not enough to avoid the upset loss.

Speaking after the match, Fiji coach Unaisi Rokoura said: “We knew coming into today’s game it was do-or-die for us and each sub-unit in the team had specific goals and targets that they had to work on in different areas in terms of defensively, marking one on one and identifying the key player which is their goal attack and we shut her down.

“We knew Zimbabwe was going to come with a physical game and we had to be smarter and just play our own Fijian style of play which is keeping it short and simple and that’s what we did.”

After finishing with a 93 percent shooting average, Fijian goal attack Unaisi Raulani was named Most Valuable Player and said: “I feel very excited because this was a do-or-die game. We had to win this one to go to the next level.”

Asked what made the difference for her side today, Rokoura reckoned: “I think it was just teamwork and communication on court, and also being consistent in everything we did on court.”

An understandably disappointed Zimbabwe captain Felisitus Kwangwa said: “I can say honestly everyone is very sad, including me. We just had a terrible start [to the tournament as a team.

“We just couldn’t maximise on our opportunities that we got as a team and that’s why we ended up here where we are right now.”

Assistant coach Wisdom Shinya added: “We still have a long way to go, we still have our jobs to do ahead of tomorrow’s game against Tonga. We just need to come out from the two losses and step up and do what we should have done in the last two games.”

SCORES
Q1: 14-12
Q2: 25-26 (11-14)
Q3: 35-43 (10-17)
Q4: 48-52 (13-9)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Unaisi Raulani (Fiji)

NEW ZEALAND 54-44 UGANDA

World champions New Zealand survived a scare from Uganda for a 54-44 victory to record their second win at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town. The Silver Ferns have now won all four of their World Cup encounters against the She Cranes.  

New Zealand were pushed to their limit in the first two quarters by their African opponents.

Centre Margret Baagala worked hard in mid-court to move the ball through to the Ugandan goal circle, providing enough good scoring opportunities for goal shooter Mary Cholhok. The Silver Ferns however were not to be outdone, with Grace Nweke standing tall in the circle on the other end of the court, making sure she landed her shots. 

New Zealand went into halftime with a four-point lead, despite only having a third of the possession. It was their superior goal shooting, 92.3 per cent compared to Uganda’s 83.3 percent, that gave them the edge.  

In the third quarter, Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua brought on the experience of Jane Watson, Gina Crampton and Te Paea Selby-Rickit to prevent the first upset of the World Cup. Watson and South African-born Karin Burger proved a lethal combination on defence, starving the She Cranes of crucial ball in their attempt to close the growing gap on the scoreboard.  

Even though it was goal-for-goal scoring in the last five minutes of the match, the world champions outmuscled the She Cranes for a vital victory. Uganda will rue the chances they missed and not remaining calm under pressure to get the better of their more fancied opponents.  

Baagala, who was the most valuable player in Friday’s victory over Singapore, played all four quarters for Uganda. She was once again a standout player for her.

Taurua credited her side’s strong defensive effort as an important part of the Silver Ferns’ victory. 

“Our systems are set and we are fine-tuning what to do against certain opposition. I’m happy with how things are starting to settle and the progress we are making. That’s something we’ve discussed, that all 12 need to be ready in the combinations so that we can keep building and pose something different to the opposition.” 

Despite the loss, Ugandan coach Fred Mugerwa said he believed his 15-player squad, of which 13 players are making their World Cup debuts, will be on top of the world at some point. 

“As a country we have talents. The only problem is the lack of exposure. Apart from the few warm-up matches we had here in Cape Town, our only preparation back home was against men’s teams which were quite physical. Today we played our hearts out and we really wanted that win. Next time we shall do it.” 

SCORES  
Q1: 13-11  
Q2: 25-21 (12-10)  
Q3: 38-22 (13-11)  
Q4: 54-44 (16-12)  

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Phoenix Karaka (New Zealand)  

AUSTRALIA 84-38 TONGA

Boosted by their hard-fought victory over Fiji on the opening day of the tournament, the ever-improving Tonga team came out firing against 11-time Netball World Cup champions Australia in their Group A clash in Cape Town on Saturday.

The Tongans used their physicality to exert a good deal of pressure on the Diamonds, also matching their speed to ensure it was a tight first 15 minutes.

Taking on a team playing in just their second Netball World Cup and ranked six places below them in the world, the Australians would most probably have expected to be further ahead than 15-13 at the first break, but it was an impressive opening period for the Tongan Tala.

Aussie coach Stacey Marinkovich stuck with her starting seven in the second quarter and a 10-goal blitz at the start of the period saw the Diamonds pulling well ahead as normal order was restored.

Goal attack Steph Wood came on in the third quarter, so earning a 50 th cap for the Australians as Paige Hadley (WA), Jo Weston (GD), Sophie Garbin (GS) and Sunday Aryang (WD) also came off the bench.

As the game progressed, the Tongans seemed to run out of steam and their early intensity dissipated. They faced a 35-goal deficit by the final break and the Australians continued to dominate to wrap up an emphatic 84-38 win.

Jamie-Lee Price was named Most Valuable Player. Speaking afterwards about the number of turnovers in the first quarter of the match, she said: “Obviously it’s something we need to look at. We adjusted slowly in the first quarter, so I think it was just sticking to our gameplan – that’s all we needed to do, really and just adjust to what they were putting out there.”

Commenting on earning her 50 th cap for her country, Wood added: “It’s really special when you get to pull on the Australian dress, just to do it once is a goosebump moment but to think I’ve been able to play 50 games is something really special and something I’m really proud of.”

Tongan captain Hulita Veve said: “I think we came out firing. I think we had the energy and we came out to play hard. We just needed to work on our consistency in the second quarter and then we lost momentum, but we’ll go back and work on that one.”

SCORES
Q1: 15-13
Q2: 39-19 (24-6)
Q3: 63-28 (24-9)
Q4: 84-38 (22-10)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Jamie-Lee Price

JAMAICA 75-40 WALES  

Jamaica scored yet another big victory at the Netball World Cup 2023 when they beat Wales 75-40 in Cape Town. This after crossing the 100-mark against Sri Lanka on Friday. Their 105 was the highest score on day 1 while the winning margin (80) was the largest. 

There are five positions between Jamaica (4) and Wales (9) on the latest world rankings and it clearly showed as the Sunshine Girls dominated all four quarters of the match. Jamaica’s combination of sharp attacking play and solid defence proved too formidable for their opponents. 

The victory showcased Jamaica’s skill, teamwork and strategic execution. Shooters Romelda Aiken-George, Rebekah Robinson and captain Jhaniele Fowler displayed remarkable accuracy, converting more than 90 per cent of their chances. Additionally, defenders Shamera Stirling and Kadie-Ann Dehaney created several turnovers and disrupted the Welsh attacking flow effectively. 

Fowler credited their success so far to the strength of the 12-player squad.

“Everyone is going out on court and doing their job and that’s what we need to for them to do, I’m very pleased with that,” she said.

“For tomorrow, I know South Africa is going to be coming hard at us. We just have to stick to our ground and play to the game plan.” 

Welsh goalkeeper Ella Powell-Davies said their aim was to disrupt the space of the Jamaicans as much as they could.  

“They are world-class players and we wanted to put as much pressure on the feed as we could in the circle. And when we got the disruption it was key that we took possession of that ball.   

“Tomorrow is Sri Lanka and it is a game that we want to go out there and meet all our performance goals. We want to have a full 60-minute performance and hopefully we can achieve that tomorrow.” 

SCORES  
Q1: 23-11  
Q2: 44-23 (21-12)  
Q3: 58-29 (14-6)  
Q4: 75-40 (17-11)  

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Shamera Sterling (Jamaica)

Results, match reports from opening day’s action

There were wins for hosts South Africa, Jamaica, England and Malawi on Friday evening as the Netball World Cup 2023 gathered momentum at Cape Town’s International Convention Centre.

The SPAR Proteas (South Africa) saw off Wales 61-50, while Jamaica were too strong for Sri Lanka, winning 105-25. England opened with a 90-29 win over Barbados ad Malawi beat Scotland 55-49.

Other results on the opening day were:

Australia 86-30 Zimbabwe
Uganda 79-37 Singapore
New Zealand 76-27 Trinidad & Tobago 
Tonga 56-51 Fiji

For all the tournament results, click on the below.

https://nwc2023.org.za/calendar/events-calendar/

Here are the morning sessions’ match reports.

NEW ZEALAND 76-27 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

New Zealand’s Silver Ferns began their Netball World Cup title defence with a dominant display over Trinidad and Tobago at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in South Africa on Friday, claiming a 76-27 victory.

The 2019 Netball World Cup champions raced into a nine-goal lead before Joelisa Cooper could slot in Trinidad and Tobago’s first goal of the tournament. With Grace Nweke notching up a flawless 100 per cent shooting record at the other end of the court in the first quarter, the Silver Ferns were 23-2 up by the first break.

They continued that momentum into the second quarter, Maia Wilson coming on for Nweke and continuing the 100 per cent scoring record. But Trinidad and Tobago managed to find their shooters in the circle with more regularity – wing attack Shantel Seemungal and later centre Alena Brooks working hard in midcourt – scoring nine goals of their own to take the score to 43-11 at half time.

It was an even better third quarter from the Caribbean nation as they began by matching New Zealand goal for goal for the first 10 minutes and enjoyed 57 per cent of the possession. They once again scored nine goals but restricted the Silver Ferns to just 15 as New Zealand coach Noeline Taurua gave each of her players some court time. Trinidad and Tobago continued their positive performance in the final period, but ultimately the defending champions wrapped up a resounding victory.

New Zealand’s South African-born defender Karin Burger was named Most Valuable Player “I was happy with the start. I thought we were quite dominant,” said Taurua afterwards. “There are some elements we’ve been working on and I could see that out on court. I thought that as the game progressed we sort of pulled ourselves apart or the opposition did and we became reactive but it’s a good start for us and we know the areas we can improve on.”

New Zealand captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio added: “I think we did start well but we have to make sure that we continue to rise above the physicality when it comes so it was a good challenge for us…

“Obviously we had multiple combos out there but we’ve always talked around the fact that no matter who is on we have to be able to do our job so it’s just getting that consistency across the quarters but good for us to know now where we can grow.”

Trinidad and Tobago coach Joel "Twiggy" Young-Strong was pleased with her side’s performance, particularly in the second half.

“New Zealand is New Zealand – they were the World Cup winners so it was tough. We took a little too long to settle in but when we settled in we did some good things, we did some great things and I am very pleased with the goal that we set – to lift our goals against New Zealand and we did that so we celebrate some small wins today.

SCORES:
Q1: 23-2
Q2: 43-11 (20-9)
Q3: 58-20 (15-9)
Q4: 76-27 (18-7)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Karin Burger (New Zealand)

TONGA 56–51 FIJI  

A spirited Tonga, in only their second outing at the sport’s showpiece, beat Fiji 56-51 in a Group A encounter on day 1 of the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town. It was the first time these two island nations have met at the World Cup with Fiji participating for the 10th time.  

Tonga took to the court wearing black armbands after the recent death of Mo’onia Gerrard’s mother. The 42-year-old defender came out of retirement to represent her second country at a World Cup, previously winning the gold medal with Australia at the 2007 and 2011 tournaments. She made her international debut against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2004. 

It was a tentative start by both teams. Fiji decided on an aerial game to counter the more physical play of Tonga. It mattered on the scoreboard, and they ended the first 15 minutes with a five-goal lead.  

At the start of the second quarter, Tonga managed to grab a few goals and scored the equaliser after five minutes. Despite outscoring Fiji, their opponents went into the halftime break with a two-point lead.

When shooter Cathrine Tuivaiti came on court for Tonga in the third quarter, it was for the representation of her third country, having previously played for Samoa and New Zealand.

The 2023 World Cup is her second one, after playing for Samoa at the 2007 tournament in Auckland. 

With the third quarter winding down, Tonga’s superior position on the world rankings, seventh compared to Fiji’s 17th, enabled them to get a hold of the game. Although Fiji’s goal circle was operating well, silly mistakes were starting to creep in, costing them dearly.  

The last 15 minutes of the match saw strong attacking play from Tonga, putting their opponents under constant pressure across the court. Accurate shooting by Tuivaiti and Uneeq Palavi ensured the win. 

Tonga vice-captain Kelea Iongi was delighted with her team’s first victory at the 2023 World Cup. “It was just important to stay one on one and grind it out on defence and attack. It was just a case of staying calm, getting the tips and the intercepts. It was a great team effort,” she said. 

Tonga centre Hulita Veve was named Most Valuable Player.  She put in a great all-round performance, moving the ball through mid-court and getting several intercepts at crucial moments during the match. 

SCORES: 

Q1: 16-11 
Q2: 28-26 (15-12) 
Q3: 40-36 (14-8) 
Q4: 56-51 (16-15) 

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Hulita Veve (Tonga)

AUSTRALIA 86-30 ZIMBABWE

World number one Australia completely outplayed Zimbabwe in their first match at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town, beating their African counterparts 86-30. This was just the second World Cup meeting between the two countries. Australia won the only other encounter 73-37 four years ago in Liverpool.

Both teams remained the same for the first half of the match, with coaches Stacey Marinkovich and Ropafadzo Mutsauki appearing to take a “wait and see” approach. In the third quarter though, Marinkovich rung the changes, bringing on the remaining reserves and making several positional switches, including Ash Brazill moving from wing defence to centre and Jo Weston moving from centre to goal defence for Australia.

For Zimbabwe, captain Felisitus Kwangwa switched from goal defence to wing defence, Joice Takaidza from centre to goal defence and Sharleen Tanaka Makusha from wing defence to centre.

With Zimbabwe claiming 51 per cent of the possession during the first two quarters, the latter stages of the match saw the 2022 Commonwealth Games champions completely stamping their authority on proceedings. The Aussies claimed 15 intercepts, considerably cutting down the passing options of Zimbabwe.

Australian captain Liz Watson brushed off having to step from the court to be re-strapped for a light scratch, saying it was good to get the pressure of the first game out of the way despite being the top-ranked team in the world.

“There are some really strong countries here and international netball is getting tighter all the time. We’ve had some nice success over the past 18 months, this was a great start and  now we can build from here and go all the way. We just have to embrace being number one and be proud of that.”

It was a less-than-impressed Zim coach Mutsauki who addressed the media after the match.

“We lacked character today, especially in the second half. We gave Australia too much respect. It is now back to the drawing board before tomorrow.”

Courtney Bruce was named Most Valuable Player. Even though she only came on in the third quarter for Australia, coach Marinkovich used her versatility to great advantage. Bruce started at goalkeeper and then moved to wing defence, centre and goal defence.

SCORES:
Q1: 20-11
Q2: 41-18 (21-7)
Q3: 62-24 (21-6)
Q4: 86-30 (24-6)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Courtney Bruce (Australia)

UGANDA 79-37 SINGAPORE

A first Netball World Cup clash between Uganda and Singapore saw the African nation dominating from start to finish and walking away with a 79-37 victory.

The She Cranes pulled away in the first quarter, enjoying 60 per cent of the possession in the period and surging ahead to a 22-9 lead.

It was more of the same in the second quarter as the Ugandans proved quicker and slicker on all fronts with Haniisha Muhameed and Shadiah Nassanga doing the business in the shooting circle.

The Ugandans stuck with their starting seven throughout the first half, coach Fred Mugerwa only making changes at half time. He brought 6 foot 6 Mary Cholhok on as goal shooter, with captain Irene Eyaru in as goal attack among several other changes.

Cholhok is one of just two players in the Ugandan squad with Netball World Cup experience, having played at the previous tournament in 2019. She played just one quarter on Friday, however, as Mugerwa continued to roll in the changes and give all his players valuable court time.

Ultimately it was a comfortable victory for the east Africans, much to the delight of their vocal supporters in the crowd, although coach Mugerwa was convinced his side should have scored more goals.

“I was happy but not a hundred per cent,” he said. “We should have scored more than the goals we scored but I think there are some errors that we are making as a team, but we will work on that.

 “Some passes were not good so we need to work on that, some of the movements as well, but the moment we work those ones out I think everything will be fine.”

Singapore captain Kai Wei Toh said the match provided a valuable learning experience for her side.

“It was a very big first game. We are a very young team so this game allowed them to experience different body builds and physicality – something that we can use to prepare for the next few games,” she said.

“We are fit enough to go for it – we just have to go for it. We didn’t expect it to be so tough but I think it’s a good thing that the team experienced it once and we know what to expect for the next one.”

“I think we can utilise our speed a bit more. Today we were a bit hesitant with our passes and runs because of their long arms and hands so if we are able to do that, we’ll be able to play a better game next time.”

SCORES:
Q1: 22-9
Q2: 42-18 (20-9)
Q3: 62-29 (20-11)
Q4: 79-37 (17-8)

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Margret Baagala (Uganda)

For all updated results visit https://nwc2023.org.za/calendar/events-calendar/