ALL 16 nations are locked in for the 2023 Netball World Cup next July following the conclusion of the Qualifiers. The top six nations – including host South Africa – automatically qualified, with the remaining 10 filling out the spots after the regional qualifiers were completed the past month.
Current world number twos and reigning champions New Zealand, world number ones Australia, as well as Commonwealth Games silver medallists Jamaica headline the event, with 2018 Commonwealth Games champions England, and rising African nation Uganda all among the automatic qualifiers.
The most competitive regional qualifiers saw Wales book its spot in the World Cup, defeating Scotland in the final match, with both nations already having qualified. In Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe joined South Africa and Uganda, while in Oceania, Tonga and Fiji both stamped their tickets to Cape Town.
In Asia, Sri Lanka and Singapore will take their place in the field, but will be the two lowest ranked nations at the event at 19th and 34th respectively. Rounding out the qualifiers just this week, Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados completed the 16-nation lineup.
2023 NETBALL WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS: (# Rank)
#1 Australia
#2 New Zealand
#3 Jamaica
#4 England
#5 South Africa (Host)
#6 Uganda
#7 Malawi
#8 Wales
#9 Tonga
#10 Scotland
#11 Trinidad & Tobago
#12 Zimbabwe
#14 Barbados
#15 Fiji
#19 Sri Lanka
#34 Singapore
POTENTIAL WORLD CUP GROUPS:
In the Netball World Cup, there will be a draw that takes place to determine the four groups of four nations who will compete in a round robin format. In past years, the top eight teams have been seeded accordingly, with the top seed assigned along with the eighth seed, the second with the seventh, the third with the sixth, and the fourth with the fifth. For the purpose of the exercise, we have done just that.
From that stage, the next four ranked teams are randomly chosen and slotted into groups. These are the ninth ranked Tonga, 10th ranked Scotland, 11th ranked Trinidad & Tobago and 12th ranked Zimbabwe. Once they have been sorted into their respective groups, the same format takes place for the remaining four teams: Barbados, Fiji, Sri Lanka and Singapore.
Here is an example of what it could look like if the last two randomisations happened to follow the first eight seedings format:
GROUP A
Australia (1st seed)
Wales (8th seed)
Tonga
Singapore
GROUP B
Jamaica (3rd seed)
Uganda (6th seed)
Trinidad & Tobago
Fiji
GROUP C
England (4th seed)
South Africa (5th seed)
Zimbabwe
Barbados
GROUP D
New Zealand (2nd seed)
Malawi (7th seed)
Scotland
Sri Lanka
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