Being the only nation not to win a match so far in the ongoing Netball World Cup in Sydney Olympic Park, Sri Lanka; having a rest day were doing all kinds of homework to try and play better in the ranking matches to be played on Saturday and Sunday.
Sri Lanka will play Zambia in playoff match on Saturday. In the other play-off match Singapore will meet Barbados. The teams that win will play for 13th and 14th places match decider while the losers will have a fight for 15 and 16th places.
Zambia beat Singapore by 67 goals to 36 and in the preliminary round Singapore trounced Sri Lanka by 56 goals to 43. It was Zambia’s first win of the NWC2015 and it was an impressive win for them.
Both teams fought equally in the first quarter and one stage the score was dead locked at 6 all. Thereafter the Singaporeans made so many mistakes and gave away a lead of 6. At the end of the first quarter Zambia led 14 to 8.
Zambia’s attacking game was at its peak of the tournament, with a combined shooting accuracy of 92% and their highest goal score so far.
“We couldn’t quite rise to the occasion” Singapore coach Ruth Aitkin said after the game. “It was a well-deserved win by Zambia.”
Zambia sprinted out from the first centre pass and put four quick points on the board. Goal attack Elizabeth Bwalay was the stand out in attack for the African nation, scoring 12 goals from 13 shots. Singapore had almost the same goal attempts, but was struggling to capitalize on shots, which allowed Zambia to take the first quarter 14-8.
Mei Ling Yu stepped in as Singapore shooter for Charmaine Soh at the start of the second quarter. These substitutions had little effect on the strong Zambian attack, with Carol Moono helping dictate momentum through the midcourt which Bwalay and Lucy Jere consistently converted to points on the score board.
Huifen Chen continued to be an attacking asset for Singapore, maximizing space in the circle for Lin Yu’s shots, but still taking the majority of points herself. They narrowed Zambia’s goal margin for the quarter, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Zambia extending their lead 31-20 at half-time.
Wholesale team changes were made for Singapore leading into the second half, including moving Olivia Flanagan and Li Li Chin in to help out in defence. A hard collision at the start of the third quarter saw Bwalay escorted off the court, replaced by Diana Banda as Zambian goal shooter.
The change in Singapore’s defence slowed down the African attack; however Ling Yu’s lack of accuracy in the goal circle limited Singapore to eight goals for the quarter, in comparison to Banda and Jere who had a perfect shooting quarter. Zambia extended their winning margin to 21 goals, leading 49-28 heading into the final term.
And they continued to play a very calculated game and went on to win the rest of the three quarters by 17 to 12, 18 to 8 and 18 to 8 respective to win overhaul by 67 to 36.
Singapore missed 25 chances of scoring and gave away too many goals to Zambia.
For Zambia Lucy Jere scored 34 out 36 attempts. Elizabeth Bwalya 17 out of 18 and Diana Banda 16 out of 19.
Jamaica and England qualify to play in the semis
Jamaica sealed their semi-final berth when they defeated Malawi 63-62 in the thrilling and tightest game of the NWC2015 so far. England too qualified as they beat the South Africans.
Jamaica and Malawi put on a spectacle for the roaring crowd in Allphones Arena, but it was the fourth ranked Jamaicans whose consistency and composure for all four quarters got them over the line.
Jamaica sitting pretty well at the half time and were leading 38 to 29. The scores were 19 to 13 and 19 to 16 in the first two quarters in favour of Jamaica.
But the Malawians fought back gallantly and almost turned the game in their favour as they led the 3rd quarter by 17 to 10 and the scoreboard read 48 to 46 again in favour of Jamaica.
The last qaurter was much thriller as both teams scored goal for goal. But the Malawians made silly mistakes and had to miss the golden chance of qualifying for the semis.
England were too good for South Africa as succumbed to a defeat by 62 goals to 46 in a deciding match for the semifinal.
English women dominated the 1st (16 to 8), 2nd (16 to 13) and the 4th (16 to 10) quarters but lost the third to quarter to South Africa by 15 to 14.
In the other matches played tonight former champions and one of the favourites New Zealand had the better of Uganda by 76 to 33 goals and Australia the defending champions and hosts beat Wales by 89 to 24 goals.
