NETBALL WORLD CUP 2015: Sunshine Girls edged by England in thriller

The August 7-16 World Cup, which is likely to be yet another contest between defending champions Australia and New Zealand for the crown, will be Kimberly Lim’s first overseas tournament.

When the Singapore netball team arrive today at the new Netball Central complex in Sydney’s Olympic Park for their World Cup opening match against Sri Lanka, they will find themselves in a markedly different place than when they competed at the last edition in 2011.

The She Cranes displayed consistent performances across the court with goal attack Racheal Nanyonga a shining light up forward proving size it not a factor.

She said: “There has been a lot of success for England’s women’s teams with the cricket, rugby and football, so it would be great if we could do the same”.

“But I think the main focus is on ourselves”.

She said: “We’ve cracked the ceiling in Asia and we’re kingpins in Asia”.

The match marked an impressive milestone for returning veteran defender Sonia Mkoloma, who became the first of three players set to equal the all-time worldwide record of playing in five consecutive world titles.

In mid-June Netball Jamaica made a plea to their supporters via their Facebook page, calling for donations from the public via text or credit card.

The key for Jamaica is whether they can get the best out of Romelda Aiken and Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, both goal-shooters in the ANZ Championship.

The Silver Ferns also won convincingly, battering Barbados 73-28, though the Kiwis remain untested under any sort of pressure as they draw closer to Sunday’s crunch Pool A clash with Australia.

England play their final Pool B match against Samoa tomorrow.

Trish Wilcox’s side advance to a pool containing England, South Africa and holders Australia.

“It’s about building on that speed and building on that expansive game we want to play later on in the competition”.

Earlier, Wales defeated Pool D opponents Fiji 59-52 in the first match of the tournament at the alternative venue of Netball Central.