LIVERPOOL – South Africa finished top of their group after the first three matches of the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England, over the weekend.
They were joined by hosts England, holders Australia and New Zealand who all ensured that they topped their preliminaries stage one groups with their third successive victories.
The group winners, along with the second and third-placed finishers in each of the four groups, now move forward to Group F or G, where the tournament’s top 12 teams will continue their battle to secure a semifinal berth.
The competition’s remaining teams, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Fiji and Samoa, now form their own group – Group E – where they will play in a round-robin format to determine who will contest the matches to decide 13th and 14th place, and 15th and 16th place.
Join your fellow South Africans get behind our #SPARProteas🇿🇦🏆🏐 #WeAreAllIn #NWC2019 @WaydeDreamer @roxy_louw @ZanelePotelwa @5FM @WP_RUGBY @bruceybld @my_spar @LindiweDube @SuperSportTV @Vanesdutoit pic.twitter.com/YvP8sHsOk6
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) July 15, 2019
For the teams in Group F (Australia, Northern Ireland, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Malawi and Barbados) and Group G (Jamaica, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, England, Uganda and Scotland), previous results against teams within their new groups will carry over.
This will ensure that the teams who topped the preliminaries stage one groups go into the next phase with an advantage.
The top two teams in both groups will qualify for the semifinals, while the remaining eight will contest matches to determine their overall placing (5th-12th) depending on their finishing position in Group F or G.