TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (46) defeated by ENGLAND (72)

England snatched a victory in a first half slaughter over the Calypso Girls, finding the ball with ease all across the court to secure a 39 goals to 24 lead at half-time to set up a dominant win. It was the Calypso Girls’ turnovers that lost the match for them, leading the penalty count by 13 and the turnovers by 15. England were their usual clean and classy selves, accurate as ever credit to smooth movers Jo Harten (36 goals from 40 attempts), Helen Housby (21 from 24) and Rachel Dunn (15 from 19) who rotated seamlessly in the goal circle. From her three quarters on court, the versatile Nat Haythornthwaite found plenty of ball on circle edge to feed with 19 assists from 33 feeds, while the other end saw Eboni Usoro-Brown rack up four intercepts and a pickup in her respective three quarters on court, pairing with ease with both Geva Mentor and Fran Williams to provide insane defensive pressure and create turnovers. Meanwhile, Serena Guthrie showcased her versatility across the court, starting in centre before rotating through both wing attack and wing defence as England looked to share the load ahead of the semi-finals stage. For Trinidad and Tobago, Kalifa McCollin and Sam Wallace shared the load well to combine for the side’s 46 goals from 51 attempts. However it was the feeding that didn’t work out for the Calypso Girls, with Candice Guerero dominating assists with 22 from 36 feeds and six turnovers. Meanwhile, defender Daystar Swift picked up 17 penalties alone and only the one intercept in less than full game time, giving the Roses shooters far too much easy ball in the goal circle.

JAMAICA (67) defeated SCOTLAND (36)

Jamaica got another win back in the books but it unfortunately was not enough after going down to both South Africa and England, meaning the side misses out on a semi-finals spot for the first time since 1995. Scotland put up a tough fight, finding plenty of ball against the disheartened Sunshine Girls, however still went down by 31 goals against the tall but speedy side. Lynsey Gallagher (11 from 11) and Emma Barrie (19 from 22) put in the hard yards in goals, but just couldn’t compete with Jamaica on a mission and all four of their defenders out to defender their honour, racking up 14 gains and seven intercepts between them. The Thistles had a lot of trouble making it past the long arms and vertical leap of the likes of Shamera Sterling, picking up only 34 assists between five players from 77 feeds, proving the influence of Jamaica’s height and skill despite them not making the semis. Defensively, Hayley Mulheron stood out for Scotland with four gains and three intercepts credit to her ability to find space and meet Jamaican shooters, Jhaniele Fowler (45 from 48) and Romelda Aiken (13 from 16) at the ball. Interestingly there was an even penalty count, with both sides racking up a whopping 47 penalties apiece as they battled for dominance.

SOUTH AFRICA (67) defeated UGANDA (40)

Uganda put up a tough fight against South Africa, fighting back after conceding 19 goals to 10 in the first before South Africa dominated the second half to come away 27 point victors. Lenize Potgieter was consistent as ever at the post for the SPAR Proteas, shooting 46 goals at 94 per cent and pairing with Maryka Holtzhausen who shot 21 from 23, aiding well at the post. A shared midcourt effort saw the goal assists split four ways with Holtzhausen finding Potgieter with ease for 17 assists to her name while Bongi Msomi, Erin Burger and Izette Griesel generated a further 16, 15 and 12 assists on their way to a dominant performance on the circle edge. The Proteas’ speed through the midcourt is credit to their respective impeccable read of play, with circle defenders, Karla Pretorius (eight gains, four intercepts) and Phumza Maweni (three gains, four intercepts) providing plenty of turnover ball back down the court to goal. For Uganda, the usually unstoppable Peace Proscovia (13 from 14) was stopped in her tracks by fellow Sunshine Coast Lightning teammates in Pretorius and Maweni, who found plenty of ball through defence to stop play in its tracks and take advantage of space through the midcourt. Versatile goaler, Stella Oyella put on a clinic with 27 from 30, finding the ring with ease shooting from mid-range. Meanwhile, Stella Nafuka produced three gains in goal keeper. It was Uganda’s 20 turnovers that ultimately lost them the match, with South Africa only producing eight turnovers across the 60 minutes.

SRI LANKA (44) defeated by FIJI (59)

Fiji got their second win on the board in as many days, defeating Sri Lanka by 15 goals after a shaky start and end to the match. It was the combined 37 goal middle quarters that got them the win, however, relegating Sri Lanka to only 17 goals in the middle 30 minutes. For Sri Lanka, Tharjini Sivalingam was dominant as ever shooting 36 of Sri Lanka’s 44 goals at a lower accuracy that usual with 93 per cent, credit to the defensive pressure applied by Fiji’s smaller defenders. Gayanjali Amarawansa racked up 35 feeds however had plenty of issues finding shooting opportunities in the goal circle, with only 12 assists. Meanwhile, Chathurangi Jayasooriya found plenty of ball defensively with five gains and two intercepts, joined by Nauchalee Rajapakse with another two intercepts for an all round performance, but with 39 turnovers to 27 the Lankans were never going to come out on top. Fiji put on an impressive performance, shooting at a combined 82 per cent credit to the shared load of Unaisi Rauluni (29 goals, 16 centre pass receives) and Matila Vocea (25 goals), fed well by Kaitlyn Fisher (20 assists from 30 feeds) and Aliti Toribau (17 assists from 28 feeds and 14 centre pass receives). The real gamechanger however was Episake Kahatoka in goal keeper, racking up a whopping 12 gains and nine intercepts along with only 11 penalties in only 38 minutes of court time.

SINGAPORE (49) defeated by SAMOA (63)

Samoa got their second win on the board to likely secure a mid-range position in the competition rankings, dominating from the get-go against Singapore to win by 14 goals. Singapore were vastly cleaner than the Samoans with 15 less penalties but were clearly beaten across the court with the physical presence of Samoa producing plenty of loose ball, with both sides racking up 29 turnovers, proving Samoa worked better with the ball they got. Samoa’s Toa Tanimo topscored with 45 goals from 48 attempts, shooting majority of the side’s goals and almost outshooting Singapore alone. She was well fed in the circle by her midcourters with Ann Helen Nu’uali’itia producing 21 assists from 36 feeds, aided by Ariana Luamanu with 20 from 32 feeds. Defensively, Rachel Rasmussen and Lenora Misa were phenomenal collecting a combined 17 gains and 10 intercepts, running ragged to force turnovers from Singapore’s struggling midcourt and goal circle. For Singapore, Charmaine Soh was impressive missing only six shots to add 21 goals to the tally, followed by Xinyi Tan (17 from 19) and Kai Wei Toh (nine from 13). Singapore found a good amount of loose ball but were unable to capitalise, with Aqilah Andin (three gains from five deflections), Sindhu Nair (two intercepts) and Carmen Goh (two intercepts) finding some good ball.