A HEARTBREAKING loss to Australia in the second successive international tournament meant Jamaica had to settle for the podium, finishing third in the 2023 Netball World Cup. The Sunshine Girls topped their groups and looked to be favourites against the world number ones, but the Diamonds found a way to get over the line.

Though Jamaica went down to the Diamonds, they regrouped and won the Bronze Medal Match, defeating New Zealand for the second time in the tournament. Other than the narrow defeat to the Aussies, few could fault the Sunshine Girls performance as a whole across the World Cup.

RESULTS

Group D: 1st (3-0, +133 goal difference)

defeated Sri Lanka by 80 goals (105-25)
defeated Wales by 35 goals (75-40)
defeated South Africa by 18 goals (67-49)

Group G: 1st (5-0, +139 goal difference)

defeated Uganda by 12 goals (61-49)
defeated Trinidad & Tobago by 63 goals (89-26)
defeated New Zealand by 11 goals (59-48)

Semi-Final:

lost to Australia by 3 goals (54-57)

Bronze Medal Match:

defeated New Zealand by 7 goals (52-45)

HIGHLIGHT

Jamaica’s win over New Zealand to claim the bronze medal was great reward for effort after such a heartbreaking loss to Australia. In that game, the Sunshine Girls raced ahead by three goals at the first break and held it by half-time. Though New Zealand tried to fight its way back into the contest, Jamaica kept the pressure up and won by seven goals, 52-45.

Captain Jhaniele Fowler shot 43 goals from 44 attempts in the win, while Shanice Beckford finished with nine from 11, as well as 11 goal assists. In the midcourt, Khadijah Williams and Nicole Dixon combined for 35 goal assists, while in defence, Shamera Sterling (five gains, two intercepts, two rebounds and two deflections) was superb.

STANDOUT PLAYER

Unsurprisingly, the most dominant shooter across the tournament in terms of sheer numbers was Fowler. The worldclass goal shooter put up a massive 302 goals despite having some minutes off the court against the lower ranked nation. Her presence and on-court leadership really stood out and is always a massive headache for opposition defenders.

OTHERS

While not able to really get consistent minutes, Romelda Aiken-George put up 110 goals, while Beckford had 95. The former also picked up a team-high 15 offensive rebounds, while Fowler had the 12. Defensively, Sterling had 15 defensive rebounds, 22 deflections and 16 intercept. She teamed up well with Jodi-Ann Ward and Latanya Wilson who showed plenty of talent and experience in the defensive third of the ground.

SUMMARY

Jamaica was able to still medal at the Netball World Cup, and while the Sunshine Girls would have loved to have made the last match of the tournament, but could not get past the Aussies. Still, beating every side bar Australia is a great achievement, and toppling the Silver Ferns twice is something to be proud of going forward.