Diamonds Ease Through to Second Phase of Netball World Cup 2019

The Australian Diamonds have progressed safely to the second phase of Netball World Cup 2019 after earning three wins from as many matches in Liverpool, England through the pool phase.

The Diamonds eased to victory over Northern Ireland (88-24), Zimbabwe (73-37) and Sri Lanka (99-24) – racking up 260 goals for, at the expense of just 85 at the defensive end.

The Diamonds will now face three matches across four days, which culminates with a crunch fixture against traditional rivals New Zealand on Thursday.

Australia will open its second phase with a match on Monday night against Barbados, who the Diamonds most recently faced at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. On that occasion, the Diamonds ran-out 55-goal victors.

On Wednesday, Australia will play one of the most quickly improving netball nations in Malawi, an international outfit that has proved a thorn in Australia’s side in the past, at the Fast5 netball format. Australia will however, starting as strong favourites.

The Diamonds will then face the Silver Ferns, a team that is infused in Australia’s netball world cup traditions. The two sides have faced off in the gold medal match at every World Cup final since Christchurch in 1999.

The Diamonds are one of the tournament favourites, and will likely be vying for the trophy at the pointy end against the Silver Ferns or England, who defeated the Australians on their own home soil in the gold medal match of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Two Western Australians feature in the Diamonds’ World Cup tour squad, with goal shooter Caitlin Bassett captaining the side, whilst Courtney Bruce is one the defensive linchpins for the Australian set-up in backcourt.

Photo: © NetballAustralia