Sunshine Girls open World Cup campaign
Senior netballers looking to set tone against Sri Lanka at 11 a.m. today
Eager to lay down the foundation of their podium charge, national senior netball head coach Connie Francis is banking on team chemistry to set the tone as the 2023 Netball World Cup begins today in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Sunshine Girls open their Pool C slate against Sri Lanka at 11 a.m. Jamaica time as they start the quest for their first top-three finish since 2007. After their camp in South Africa with the full complement of the team present, Francis is encouraged by how much they have sharpened their play and focus, giving her a sense of confidence about the team’s play.
“The beauty about having this squad is that we have a group of players that have been together for a long time so it doesn’t take a lot of tweaking. We had some practice games and as we went along the practice games got better,” Francis told The Gleaner. “We finished another session where all players are looking really sharp. I had to say to the girls that I am not even worried as yet.”
While confident about their ability to perform against Sri Lanka, Francis stressed the importance of setting the tone for the rest of the campaign.
“We want to execute clinically. We want to run our different combinations to see what works best for us when we meet our tougher opponents. This is what we are reinforcing, good plays, great moments. We are seeing it happening,” Francis said.
Last year the Sunshine Girls achieved success, earning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. With that momentum and talk from the outside about Jamaica’s chances of winning their first-ever world title, Francis wants the team to earn that contenders tag, something she feels the team is capable of doing.
“We set goals for them but they also set themselves the task of reaching these goals, and that is the aim,” Francis said, while adding that their main task is to see how deep they can go in the tournament and really be the force that everybody is saying they are.
Jamaica will face Wales tomorrow at 4 a.m. Jamaica time before facing host nation South Africa on Sunday.
Today’s games Jamaica time
2 a.m.
New Zealand vs Trinidad and Tobago Pool D
Tonga vs Fiji Pool A
4 a.m.
Australia vs Zimbabwe Pool A
Uganda vs Singapore Pool D
11 a.m.
South Africa vs Wales Pool C
Jamaica vs Sri Lanka Pool C
1 p.m.
England vs Barbados Group B
Malawi vs Scotland Group B
World top 20:
1. Australia, 2. New Zealand, 3. England, 4. JAMAICA, 5. South Africa, 6. Malawi, 7. Tonga, 8. Uganda, 9. Wales, 10. Scotland, 11. Trinidad and Tobago, 12. Northern Ireland, 13. Zimbabwe, 14. Barbados, 15. Sri Lanka, 16. Zambia, 17. St Vincent and the Grenadines, 18. Samoa, 19. Fiji, 20. Cook Islands.