Siyachitema hopes to avoid Aussies
ZIMBABWE Gems skipper Perpetual Siyachitema is hoping the country will avoid defending netball World Cup champions Australia when the draw for the finals is held in the next few days.
Australia has been the dominant force in the game and have won it three times in the last three competitions and Siyachitema is praying that they get a favourable draw and avoid the Australians when the draw is conducted on September 15. The Australians have 11 world cup titles.
The top eight ranked teams will be seeded into four groups for the first phase of the 16-team tournament (Preliminaries Stage One). The draw will position the remaining eight teams into these groups.
In February the International Netball Federation announced a new format for the World Cup, which will see teams compete in three stages: the Preliminaries Stage One from 12-14 July, the Preliminaries Stage Two from 15-18 July and the Play-offs and Placings matches from 19 -21 July.
Host nation England are second seeds, after climbing up the world rankings to second position for the first time in their history, following their Commonwealth Games gold medal in April 2018.
“I just hope we don’t get Australia in our group. They are an excellent side besides being the defending champions but otherwise we are ready for any team,” said Siyachitema.
The finals will be held from July 12-21, 2019 at the Echo Arena, Liverpool in England and the Zimbabwe Gems will be among the 16 queens at the prestigious tournament alongside Uganda, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, South Africa, Malawi, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Samoa, Fiji and hosts England.
The other qualifiers from the Americas and Asia are yet to be determined.
Siyachitema led the nation to a historic appearance at the finals during qualifiers held in Lusaka, Zambia last month where they came second to Uganda.
The INF Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship co-ordinated by the International Netball Federation (INF), inaugurated in 1963.