Source: guardian.co.tt | Rachael Thompson-King
T&T’s netballers maintained their perfect start to the Mission Foods World Netball Championships with a comfortable 58-40 win over Fiji, yesterday in Singapore. The victory means that T&T qualifies for the quarterfinal round.It was the Calypso Girls’ second straight victory at the 13th edition of the world event after beating Wales 51-48 in their first match. The match opened the day’s action and from the get go, it was a one-sided affair as T&T shot out to an early lead, leaving Fiji scrambling to find their feet, but as the whistle blew to signal quarter time, the Fijians had fought back hard, to trail 14-11. The encounter truly was an epic display of netball with bodies on the floor, long passes flying toward shooters and defenders snatching intercepts.
T&T began to extend their lead in the third quarter as speedy goal-attack Joelisa Cooper encouraged her teammates to get the ball to her as she drove fast into the shooting circle, landing directly under the hoop. Cooper shot with 87 per cent accuracy, to finish with 13 goals from 15 attempts. T&T’s centre-court, spurred on by centre Tricia Liverpool, wing-attack Rhonda John-Davis and wing-defence Candice Guerero put out a world-class performance. Their vision and the way they worked tirelessly as a unit was nothing short of grand. Liverpool so impressed, she was named the “Player of the Match.” The match-up between talented Fijian goal-keeper Mere Rabuka and on form T&T goal-shooter Anastascia Wilson was an engaging one as each time a high ball went into the circle they were both in the air contesting. Wilson emerged the more dominant though as she led all shooters with 31 off 34 (91 per cent).
Her captain Janelle Barker was also influential in the win, replacing Cooper in the third quarter and producing 14 from 17 for T&T as the eighth ranked team in the world, went on to outscore its challenger, 31-17 in the final two sessions, to seal the 18-goal triumph. Shooting for Fiji were Afa Rusivakula (24/32) and Seruwaia Vonolagi (16/21). The Calypso Girls’ spirit will be high as they head into third and final match in Pool B against netball powerhouse New Zealand, the defending champion and number one team in the world. The Kiwis too, are coming off two huge wins against Fiji (80-25) on Monday and Wales (97-21), yesterday..
Results
T&T 58 vs Fiji 40
England 74 vs Barbados 42
Sri Lanka 57 vs Samoa 53
New Zealand 91 vs Wales 21
Jamaica 74 vs Botswana 23
Australia 75 vs Northern Ireland 33
South Africa 70 vs Singapore 33
Malawi 66 vs Malaysia 35
Today’s matches
Northern Ireland vs Samoa
Fiji vs Wales
Malawi vs Barbados
New Zealand vs T&T
England vs Malaysia
Singapore vs Jamaica
Australia vs Sri Lanka
South Africa vs Botswana