Proteas pleased with ‘fair’ 2023 World Cup draw
SA to face Jamaica, Wales and Sri Lanka
The Spar Proteas are happy with the draw they got for the 2023 Netball World Cup as they intensify their preparations.
On Wednesday in East London, Eastern cape, the SA netball team was drawn into Pool C along with Jamaica, Wales and Sri Lanka.
There’s a total of four pools – Pool A features Australia, Tonga, Zimbabwe and Fiji; while Pool B is made up of England, Malawi, Scotland and Barbados; and then Pool D will have New Zealand take on Uganda, Singapore and Trinidad and Tobago.
The 16 teams will ascend in Cape Town next year from July 28 to August 6 to see who will come out on top after the 60game netball showpiece. Netball SA’s president Cecilia Molokwane is pleased with the relatively easy draw they got.
“We are happy with the draw because we believe that it turned out the way it was supposed to,” said Molokwane to the NSA media department.
“We would like to wish all the teams well and everything of the best as they continue to prepare for this World Cup. Our players are hard at training already as they prepare themselves for a podium finish,” she said.
Before shifting their attention to the World Cup, the Proteas will have the Quad Series in next month where they will play Australia, England and New Zealand. The Quad Series will test the Proteas’ readiness for the World Cup and level of competitiveness.
Defender Zanele Vimbela said the team will have to up their standard in January when they take on the top three nations in the world.
“We are in a space of preparation, we want to get as much work done on the court. We’ll be facing the top three teams in the world in January,” said Vimbela to Sowetan.
“How we conduct ourselves in that professional setting, the standards that we put out there has to be high if not higher than those top three teams we are facing.
“That’s where everything is right now. We are in that space of getting ourselves in that mindset of we know we can do the job. We just have to stay consistent,” the goal defender added.