Netball World Cup: Wales, New Zealand and Malawi win on day one
Friday 7 August 2015 10:18, UK
Wales got off to a winning start in the Netball World Cup with a tight win over Fiji in Sydney on Friday.
Wales found themselves trailing 16-13 at the first quarter but Trish Wlicox rallied her side at the break and they came out storming.
Midcourter Bethan Dyke starred in the Wing Attack position for Wales. Her energy inspired teammates to turn the deficit around and at half-time Fiji were down 33-24.
Fiji's Taraima Mitchell finished as top scorer with 35 goals, and it was her 100% accuracy that kept the Pearls in the game in third quarter. At the final break Wales were in front 46-38.
Fiji pushed to try and bridge the gap in the final quarter but Wales held strong to close out the game.
“I thought we played really strongly,” said Welsh Goal Attack Emma Thomas after the match. “We stuck to our game plan for the majority of the game. [Fiji] were really strong… they played the game we expected them to.”
England's Pool B rivals Jamaica put in a strong display to beat Samoa 90-44. The Sunshine Girls play the Roses on Saturday in a rematch of last year's Commonwealth Games bronze medal match.
Elsewhere on day one, Malawi caused an upset by beating fifth-ranked South Africa 58-51.
In a tightly fought contest the Queens ran out eventual winners thanks to Mwai Kumwenda shooting 40 from 43 attempts.
New Zealand got off to a winning start beating Barbados 73-28 on their first match. Former world player of the year Laura Langman put in a player-of-the-match performance with her clinical feeding into the circle.
Uganda asserted their position as one of the rising nations in world netball with a powerful 74-38 win over Zambia.
Finally, Singapore got off the mark overcoming Sri Lanka 56-43.
