Sunshine Girls likely to play England

SYDNEY, Australia ( CMC): amaica is likely to play against England in the opening match of the next Netball World Cup ( NWC), formerly World Netball Championships.

The match- up is based on a new system geared towards increased competitiveness at the tournament, set for August 2015 in Sydney.

The NWC was launched in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday.

“Under the new system, fans will no longer have to wait until the medal games to see the likes of New Zealand, Australia, England, and Jamaica line up against each other,” said Molly Rhone, president of the International Federation Netball Associations.

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The top four netball nations were on hand for Tuesday’s launch of the NWC and Romelda Aiken represented Netball Jamaica.

The top six nations automatically qualify, plus 10 teams selected via regional tournaments.

The 16 nations will be divided into four pools of four teams, with the top- ranked one and two teams in the same pool. Similarly, third and fourth, fifth and sixth, and seventh and eighth will be in the same pool.

Based on the latest ranking, Jamaica ( fourth) will be in the same pool as England ( third).

It is anticipated that the opening match of the tournament could be between the No 1 and 2 ranked teams, New Zealand and Australia.