Trinidad and Tobago will play netball in Africa for the first time, next year.
The Calypso Girls are “qualified to be invited” to the first Netball World Cup to be held on the African continent, carded for South Africa from July 28-August 6, 2023.
T&T qualified following Wednesday night’s 43-27 victory over the United States in the Americas Federation of Netball Association Championship (AFNA) on Wednesday night, joining Jamaica as regional qualifiers, with Barbados highly-favored to become the region’s third representatives.
Having qualified, for head-coach Kemba Duncan, the final goal was to finish strong against also unbeaten Barbados in the Americas Championship match last night at the National Indoor Sports Centre, Kingston, Jamaica.
Victory over the Americans brought up a sixth victory on the trot for the unbeaten Calypso Girls, while also unbeaten Barbados rallied from 10-12 down to defeated St Vincent and the Grenadines 57-36 on Wednesday night, for their fifth win.
The Bajans were due to meet T&T last night, before rounding off their campaign against Antigua and Barbuda on the final day tomorrow. Before then, they also meet hosts and guest team Jamaica tonight, but the result has no bearing on the overall standings.
T&T comfortably defeated Barbados 63-31 when the teams met at the Commonwealth Games in August, 2022, and also won 65-51 in Bridgetown in the 2019 Americas Championship final played in Bridgetown. Were they to lose to favorites T&T, the Bajans only have to beat winless Antigua and Barbuda to secure the second World Cup qualifying spot.
T&T end their Americas campaign with a highly-anticipated “exhibition” showdown tomorrow night against the #3-rated Jamaicans — a match with no bearing on the competition. The Sunshine Girls are also unbeaten, despite fielding some new players, alongside the vastly-experienced Jhaniele Fowler, their best-ever shooter.
RESULTS:
DAY 4 (Wednesday):
T&T 43 United States 27
Barbados 57 Saint Vincent &
Grenadines 36
Jamaica 74 v Grenada 48
Cayman Islands 47 Antigua &
Barbuda 42
United States 46 St Lucia 36
T&T 60 Cayman Islands 21
Barbados 60 Grenada 38
Jamaica 80 Antigua and Barbuda 23
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