Australia continue to dominate netball world

The first World Cup in Africa came to an end in Cape Town with Australia crowned the champions at the Netball World Cup 2023.

The Diamonds will defend their 12th title in 2027 on home soil at the tournament in Sydney. It will be the third time the city has hosted the event. It will also be Netball Australia’s centenary celebrations.

Amid fireworks, President Cyril Rampahosa handed over the trophy to Australian captain Liz Watson. In a short message, he said he is now a netball fan and committed to building a netball arena in helping to grow the sport in South Africa.

The final placings at the World Cup in Cape Town are:

Gold: Australia

Silver: England

Bronze: Jamaica

4. New Zealand

5. Uganda

6. South Africa

7. Malawi

8. Tonga

9. Wales

10. Scotland

11. Fiji

12. Trinidad and Tobago

13. Zimbabwe

14. Barbados

15. Singapore

16. Sri Lanka

The players of the tournament are:

Attack – Helen Housby (England)

Mid-court – Kate Heffernan (New Zealand)

Defence – Courtney Bruce (Australia)

Player of the tournament – Helen Housby (England)

In the final of the tournament in Cape Town, Australia showed why they are the world No 1 when they beat third-ranked England 61-45. It was the Diamonds’ ninth consecutive appearance in a World Cup final and England’s first time contesting for the title. The Roses couldn’t match their performance of earlier in the week when they beat Australia (56-55) for the first time to top Pool F.

Australian goal defence Jo Weston couldn’t contain herself after the match.

“Thrilled is probably an understatement, so ecstatic that we managed to pull it off on the day and now we are the world champs. They’ve just got such a potent shooting end and they were really accurate last time, we tried to adjust and stay in play a little bit more and build continual pressure and hope that we could turn over the ball and it worked in the end."

England defender Fran Williams couldn’t hide her disappointment.

“We know we are so much better and I think we have shown that this tournament. But fair play to the Diamonds, they threw everything at us and were definitely the deserved winners on the day. We still ticked off some huge history markers and milestones this tournament and we definitely are proud of that."

Jamaica walked away with the bronze medal after a 52-45 victory over New Zealand, sending the Silver Ferns home without any silverware at a World Cup for the first time in the history of the tournament. Jamaica have now played in seven World Cup bronze medal matches, with four wins in 1991, 2003, 2007 and 2023.

Much was expected of South Africa as host nation, but the Proteas lost 47-49 to Uganda to finish 6th, two positions lower than their 4th spot at the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool. The She Cranes 5th place is their best at a World Cup. In regard to the senior players in the team, there has been no official word yet on the possible retirement of captain Bongi Msomi, Karla Pretorius and Phumza Maweni.

Earlier in the day, Malawi beat Tonga 64-54 to finish 7th. The other participating African nation, Zimbabwe, finished 13th.