Wrap: Proteas miss out on semifinal spot, Australia, New Zealand suffer first defeat

South Africa missed out on a semi-final spot despite claiming a 52-50 victory over Uganda while Australia suffered their first defeat after going down 56-55 against England in Netball World Cup action on Thursday.

South Africa 52-50 Uganda

Even though the Proteas beat Uganda in a close game in Pool G on Wednesday at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), their World Cup hopes are over.

A few hundred South Africans, including Olympian Chad le Clos, watched the Proteas win a close game 52-50 in front of a mostly empty CTICC.

The Proteas will now play for fifth and sixth place on Friday, but they don’t yet know who they will play.

To get into the World Cup semi-finals, the Proteas had to beat Uganda by 64 goals at the start of the game. After Jamaica beat the defending champions, New Zealand, 59-48, earlier in the day, this calculation was made.

The semi-finals of the World Cup were only a mathematical possibility, so the Proteas had nothing to lose when they played the other African team.

Early on, South Africa was in charge of the game, but Uganda fought back bravely. In the first quarter, the home team took a 16-11 lead thanks to the play of Ine-Mar Venter and Nichole Taljaard.

In the second quarter, the Proteas again had most of the ball and led 17-8. At halftime, they had a 33-19 lead.

In the third quarter, however, the Ugandans showed why they are one of the best netball teams in the world. They put the South African defence on the back foot.

Uganda’s best player was Mary Cholhok, who made all of her shots on goal. The visitors won the quarter, 17–8, and are only five points behind.

In the last quarter, the Proteas made a few changes, but the Ugandans came out strong again and kept cutting into the Proteas’ lead.

Soon, they were tied, and with a few minutes left on the clock, things weren’t looking too good for the home team. The crowd in Cape Town, on the other hand, stayed upbeat, and the Proteas were able to keep their cool and pull off a narrow win.

Elmeré van der Berg scored 11 goals in 13 tries, Taljaard scored 15 goals in 15 tries and was perfect, and Venter scored 26 goals in 28 tries.

Jamaica 59-48 New Zealand

In Group G’s last game, Jamaica and the defending champions, New Zealand, went head-to-head to decide who would come out on top.

Last year, in the Semi-Final of the Commonwealth Games, Jamaica beat the Silver Ferns in a very convincing way. They went on to win the Silver Medal in Birmingham. The Sunshine Girls won again, and their 59-48 win over New Zealand was the first time they beat them at a Netball World Cup.

After a close tie with the hosts, South Africa, late on Wednesday, New Zealand got off to a fast start and took the lead before Jamaica could score. But after tying the score at 10, they didn’t look back. Both goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler and goal attack Shanice Beckford made all of their shots in the first quarter. By the first break, the Jamaicans had a five-goal lead.

At the start of the second quarter, neither team made any changes to their lineup. It was another hard-fought quarter. The Silver Ferns looked better on offence because they kept their possession and scored one more goal than the Sunshine Girls. But the Jamaicans finished strong, so they still had a three-goal lead at halftime.

At the start of the third quarter, Khadijah Williams was replaced by Adean Thomas at wing attack for the Jamaicans. New Zealand’s coach, Noeline Taurua, stuck with her starting seven. Again, New Zealand had some good stretches of play and won the quarter by just one goal, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Jamaicans, who were playing hard.

As the pressure got higher in the last period, New Zealand’s game started to get worse. Romelda Aiken-George took over as goal shooter for the last few minutes of the game, but Fowler was named Most Valuable Player because she made all 49 of her shots and had a 100% shooting average. The defending champions lost by 11 goals, which was the most they had ever lost at a Netball World Cup.

Fiji 46-62 Scotland

The Thistles beat Fiji 62–46 in a Pool F match at the Netball World Cup 2023, while Scottish fans sang “Flower of Scotland” from the stands. With the win, Scotland moved up to play for 9th and 10th place, while Fiji will play for 11th and 12th place.

This was the sixth time that these two countries played each other at the World Cup. With Scotland’s win on Thursday, both teams now have three wins.

In the first 15 minutes, Scotland had a strong start with a commanding performance. In the middle of the court, where captain Claire Maxwell was playing in her third World Cup, good balls were passed to the shooters, who only missed one shot. At the other end, Scottish defenders Cerys Finn and Emily Nicholl put pressure on the Fiji shooters, which caused them to make more mistakes.

Starting the second quarter down by five goals, Fiji’s coaching staff made several changes on the bench and on the court. For example, Ana Nauqe moved from wing attack to centre and Josephine Nailumu moved from wing defence to goal defence. It worked, and Fiji won the quarter 18 to 16. At halftime, Scotland was ahead by 29 to 26.

Fiji played well before halftime, but they couldn’t keep it up because Scotland kept taking advantage of their mistakes. The Scottish shooters then took advantage of every chance that came their way in the circle and won the match with ease.

Australia 55-56 England

At the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town, England followed South Africa’s amazing game against New Zealand on Wednesday with their own. They beat 11-time champions Australia to win their first-ever World Cup game. Since their first match in 1956, this is only the eighth time that the Roses have won against the Diamonds in any competition.

Fran Williams, who plays goal defence for England, made a great deflection in the last few seconds that stopped Australia from getting a draw. With the win, England comes in first in Pool F, and Australia comes in second. Both teams made it to the semi-finals, which will be played on Saturday.

England took the lead early on because shooters Eleanor Cardwell and Helen Housby made the most of their chances. At the end of the first quarter, Funmi Fadoju’s late interception on goal defence gave England a 15-13 lead.

Sarah Klau took over for superstar Australian defender Courtney Bruce, and she made an immediate difference, helping Australia catch up and pass England to take a 32-26 lead at halftime.

In the second half, England began to close the gap with Australia.

With good play and some key turnovers, England won the third quarter 18-13 and was only one goal behind Australia going into the last 15 minutes.

Cardwell scored for the Roses early in the fourth quarter to give them the lead. Australia’s defence stayed strong, and England stayed calm in the high-pressure situation.

In the last few minutes, the game went back and forth, with neither team giving an inch. In the end, though, Australia lost at key times during the game, giving England an unexpected win.

Wales 70-55 Trinidad & Tobago

Thursday in Cape Town, Wales played Trinidad and Tobago for a spot in the 9th/10th playoff for the Netball World Cup 2023.

Eight times before at World Cups, these two teams played each other. Each time, the Caribbean team won. But on Thursday, the Welsh Feathers got off to a good start. From the start, Trinidad and Tobago looked a little flat and had trouble keeping hold of the ball. This gave the Welsh a chance to move ahead and score four goals before the first break.

In the second quarter, the game really got going. The Calypso Girls found some of the rhythm and style they had shown so far in the tournament, while the Welsh stuck to their plans and kept getting ahead of their opponents. Afeisha Noel of Trinidad and Tobago kept things interesting in the shooting circle by making both layups and shots from far away. Both teams scored 15 goals in the third quarter, so Wales still had a four-goal lead at the half.

In the third quarter, the Welsh came out strong, and Trinidad and Tobago’s defence was much worse. Wales was able to move quickly through the middle of the court to get the ball to their shooters. Georgia Rowe did a great job in the circle. The 6’4″ goal shooter finished a strong quarter for Wales with 13 goals out of 13 shots, giving her a 98% average for the whole game.

The last quarter was very close, with only one goal separating the two teams. However, the Welsh stayed strong and won a memorable 70-55 game.

Wales will now play for ninth place, and Trinidad and Tobago can finish no higher than eleventh. The Welsh are currently ranked 9th and the Calypso Girls are currently ranked 11th in the World Netball World Rankings.