* Jamaica walked away with the bronze medal after a 52-45 victory over New Zealand
* Sending the Silver Ferns home without any silverware at a World Cup for the first time in the history of the tournament
* Africa’s representatives Uganda finish 5th, South Africa 6th, Malawi 7th and Zimbabwe 13
SuperSport
The first World Cup in Africa came to an end in Cape Town with Australia crowned the champions at the Netball World Cup 2023 when the world No 1 beat third-ranked England 61-45.
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It was the Diamonds’ 9th consecutive appearance in a Netball World Cup final and England’s first time contesting for the title.
Amid fireworks, President Cyril Rampahosa handed over the trophy to Australia’s captain Liz Watson and in a short message, he said he is now a netball fan and committed to building a netball arena in helping to grow the sport in South Africa.
Meanwhile, Africa’s representatives at the first Netball World Cup hosted by the continent, Uganda finished 5th, hosts South Africa 6th, Malawi 7th and Zimbabwe 13.
The Queens
In the final Australia showed why they are the world No 1 beating England 61-45 which was the Diamonds’ 9th consecutive appearance in a World Cup final and England’s first.
The Roses couldn’t match their performance of earlier in the week when they beat Australia 56-55 for the first time to top Pool F.
Australian goal defence Jo Weston couldn’t contain herself after the match: “Thrilled is probably an understatement, so ecstatic that we managed to pull it off on the day and now we are the world champs.
“They’ve just got such a potent shooting end and they were really accurate last time, we tried to adjust and stay in play a little bit more and build continual pressure and hope that we could turn over the ball and it worked in the end.”
England defender Fran Williams couldn’t hide her disappointment, saying: “We know we are so much better and I think we have shown that this tournament. But fair play to the Diamonds, they threw everything at us and were definitely the deserved winners on the day.
“We still ticked off some huge history markers and milestones this tournament and we definitely are proud of that.”
Jamaica walked away with the bronze medal after a 52-45 victory over New Zealand, sending the Silver Ferns home without any silverware at a World Cup for the first time in the history of the tournament.
Jamaica have now played in seven World Cup bronze medal matches, with four wins in 1991, 2003, 2007 and 2023.
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Much was expected of South Africa as host nation, but the Proteas lost 47-49 to Uganda to finish 6th, two positions lower than their 4th spot at the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool. The She Cranes 5th place is their best at a World Cup.
Malawi Queens beat Tonga in their last match for the second time in three days to claim the winning by 64-54 — their second triumph over Tonga having beaten them 56-51 last Thursday and in Sunday’s match, the Queens got the better of the Tala’s with a 10-goal gap.
They opened their campaign by beating Scotland 54-49 before losing 39-62 against England in the next and thumped Barbados 84-48 in the third match.
In the match against Australia the Queens managed to rattle the world No. 1 by drawing 28-28 at half time but an injury by playmaker Lwazi in the third quarter disturbed coach Sam Kanyenda’s game plan and they went on to lose 46-70. They then lost 46-57 to Uganda in a tussle for 5th/6th place.
Uganda and Malawi in action
Meanwhile, Player of the Tournament went to England’s attack Helen Housby and she also received Best Attack accolade while that of Best Mid-court went to Kate Heffernan (New Zealand) and Best Defence to Courtney Bruce (Australia).
Australia will defend their title in 2027 on home soil in Sydney — the third time the city has hosted the event and it will also be Netball Australia’s centenary celebrations.
The final placings at the World Cup in Cape Town are:
Gold: Australia
Silver: England
Bronze: Jamaica
4. New Zealand
5. Uganda
6. South Africa
7. Malawi
8. Tonga
9. Wales
10. Scotland
11. Fiji
12. Trinidad and Tobago
13. Zimbabwe
14. Barbados
15. Singapore
16. Sri Lanka
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