Netball World Cup: Business as usual for netball’s Big 5, Fiji shock Zimbabwe
While world champions New Zealand, Australia, Jamaica, England and hometown favourites South Africa are still continuing on their winning ways at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town, Day 2 started with a major upset as Fiji scored a much-needed victory over Zimbabwe at the CTICC.
It was a must-win for both teams as Friday’s opening action saw them both go down against Tonga and Australia respectively.
The Island team managed to carve out a hard-fought 52-48 victory.
On Sunday, Fiji are up against Australia and Zimbabwe play Tonga.
Hosts South Africa claimed an emphatic 87-32 victory over Sri Lanka, remaining unbeaten.
Karla Pretorius earned her 100th cap while Ine-Marie Venter represented the Proteas for the 50th time.
Their last group match against Jamaica is promising to be a scintillating affair as it will determine who’ll top their group and position in the next round.
Malawi couldn’t follow up their come-from-behind victory over Scotland on Friday against England and suffered a 39-62 loss.
While the first quarter was close, the England Roses had too much firepower for the Malawi Queens. They next face Barbados while England will come up against Scotland.
World champions New Zealand were pushed to their limit in the first two quarters of their match against Uganda but managed to pull out a 54-44 victory.
Uganda will rue the chances they missed and not remaining calm under pressure to get the better of their more fancied opponents.
Their last group match is against Trinidad and Tobago with New Zealand up against Singapore.
Scotland recorded their third World Cup victory over Barbados, beating the Islanders 53-44.
It was the Thistles’ first win in Cape Town. The scores were still level at halftime but in the last two quarters, Scotland got their noses in front to bring the victory home.
Trinidad and Tobago solidified their 49-36 victory over Singapore within the first few minutes of the game.
In the end, it was the physicality and superior shooting accuracy of Trinidad and Tobago that proved to be the difference.
Eleven-time World Champions Australia just had too much firepower for Tonga, giving them a 84-38 wallop.
The Aussies were only ahead by two points after the first 15 minutes but then kicked into high gear to bring it home.
Jamaica beat Wales 75-40 for another big victory. Their 105 was the highest score on day one.
The Sunshine Girls’ combination of sharp attacking play and solid defence proved too formidable for their opponents. Wales play Sri Lanka on Sunday.
