TRINIDAD & TOBAGO has joined Jamaica as the second Americas nation through to the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town. While the Sunshine Girls automatically qualified due to their world ranking, the Calypso Girls booked their spot through qualifying, having won all seven matches so far. With just Jamaica to come, the Calypso Girls cannot be caught, sitting six points clear of fourth spot and coming off a hard-fought win over Barbados.

Trinidad & Tobago defeated Barbados by 10 goals on day five of the tournament, in a match fitting for the World Cup. It backed up the Calypso Girls’ two-goal win over the Bajan Gems in Birmingham, and the favourites stormed to a five-goal lead at the first break.

It was a battle of the defences in this match though, with Jameela McCarthy and Shaquanda Greene-Noel at one end, and the experienced Shonette Azore-Bruce at the other. A strong second term from the underdogs and a last-ditch goal on the buzzer to Shonica Wharton saw Barbados back within a goal at the main break.

The second half saw the Calypso Girls build their momentum against the Bajan Gems, outscoring their opponents by four goals as Greene-Noel’s dominance continued. With Barbados trying to throw everything at its higher ranked opponent, Trinidad & Tobago stood firm to win by 10 goals, 50-40 and stamp their ticket to Cape Town next year.

It sets the stage for a huge final match between Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica, with the top two nations likely to be undefeated heading into that contest. Jamaica took care of St Lucia without any troubles, running away with a 55-goal victory. The Sunshine Girls dominated from start to finish, piling on 25 goals to six in the first term, and held a 29-goal lead by the main break. Stepping up in goal shooter, Gezelle Allison was impressing, and the Jamaicans continued to put the foot down to make it a 48-goal lead by the final break.

To St Lucia’s credit, the small nation kept fighting to the final whistle, scoring 10 goals in the last term – while only conceding 17 – but still going down by 55. Jamaica’s 85-30 victory was symbolic of how the Sunshine Girls had played all tournament and why they are the world number three despite missing several key players.

In the other two matches, the United States got up in a tight one over Cayman Islands by nine goals, 44-35 to effectively ensure sixth spot on the table. Meanwhile St Vincent & The Grenadines took care of Antigua & Barbuda to sit equal with the United States in what will ultimately end in a likely fifth place overall finish.

Barbados will take on Jamaica in the headline match of the day and while the Bajan Gems will likely go down to the Sunshine Girls, can take the last World Cup spot with a victory over Antigua & Barbuda. The only way Barbados loses its spot is by going down in that shock loss, while Grenada beats both the United States and St Vincent & The Grenadines.