Jamaica's Sunshine Girls defeat New Zealand 52-45 to win World Cup bronze medal

By August 06, 2023

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls gifted their country a bronze on Independence Day on Sunday when they defeated New Zealand 52-45 in the play-off for third place at the Netball World Cup in South Africa.

It was the first time that Jamaica was defeating New Zealand twice in the same global tournament relegating the Silver Ferns to their worst ever World Cup result.

Needing to rebound from the disappointment of losing 57-54 to Australia in the semi-finals, which denied them the chance to play for the gold medal, Jamaica took control of the match against the injury-riddled Ferns, who were among the favourites to win the tournament.

The defending champions had lost star shooter Grace Nweke to injury during the pool games and then were hit with an injury to Gina Crampton who was forced to leave the game with an ankle injury.

Jhaniele Fowler scored 43 goals at 98 per cent accuracy to help lead the Sunshine Girls while Shamera Sterling and Jodi-Ann Ward defended stoutly to ensure that the Sunshine Girls would have some consolation from the competition.

Ward said she is proud of the way her team rebounded from the loss to Australia on Saturday.

“We were very disappointed because obviously we wanted to be in the gold-medal match but we had to shake it off and came out here and we’re proud of the girls how they came out here and performed,” she said.

Ward added that the team simply wanted to play well to end the tournament on a high following Saturday’s let-down.

“We, as a unit, just wanted to execute because we didn’t do that very well yesterday (Saturday) so we just wanted to come out and execute as best as we could. Kudos to New Zealand they really put on a performance; they forced us to change a lot of things that we would normally do but I am extremely proud we came out with the win.”

Maia Wilson was the leading scorer for New Zealand with 19 goals.

Leighton Levy

Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.

Related items

  • 'Job not done' for Springboks after All Blacks triumph, says Kolisi 'Job not done' for Springboks after All Blacks triumph, says Kolisi

    South Africa captain Siya Kolisi warned his team the job is far from done despite them rallying for a thrilling victory over New Zealand in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.

    The Springboks secured a 31-27 win over the All Blacks at Ellis Park, coming from behind with two late tries from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams.

    The victory hauled South Africa onto 14 points in the Championship standings as they bid to end New Zealand's four-year stranglehold on the title, but Kolisi says there is still work to be done.

    Addressing the capacity crowd in his post-match interview, Kolisi said: "We play for a lot but you people are our number one motivation. 

    "We appreciate you every single day. Please don't stop. When times are tough, please keep supporting us. We cannot do it without you.

    "We respect the All Blacks. No matter what people say about them, when they need to turn up, they turn up. We believed in ourselves, we didn't panic, and we did what we wanted.

    "They were catching us on the exit. After the first try in the second half, we picked it up. I'm really proud of the boys but the job is not done."

    All Blacks captain Scott Barrett, meanwhile, was proud of his team-mates' efforts but admitted they had just fallen short of putting together a complete performance.

    "Well done to the Springboks, it showed the class team they are," he said. "We weren't quite good enough. We were good for 62 minutes and it's an 80-minute game.

    "There were two key moments after kick-offs where we couldn't quite get out of our half and they punished us. It was a huge effort, we're certainly proud, but it was just not quite to be.

    "We'll regroup pretty quickly. Some guys have played here for the first time. It's intense and we'll have to be better next week."

    South Africa host New Zealand again in Cape Town next week, while Australia go to Argentina for their round-three matchup. 

  • BVI's Adaejah Hodge, Ja's Shanoya Douglas cop gold, bronze in women's 200m at World U-20 Champs BVI's Adaejah Hodge, Ja's Shanoya Douglas cop gold, bronze in women's 200m at World U-20 Champs

    Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) delivered a stunning performance to cop gold in the women’s 200m final at the World Under-20 Championships, while Jamaica’s Shanoya Douglas claimed bronze in Lima, Peru, on Friday.

    Hodge, 18, who claimed silver in the same event at the 2022 Championships, upgraded her medal to gold as she topped the field in 22.74s, marking a significant milestone in her budding career.

    The Olympian’s victory was the highlight of a successful night for the Caribbean, as 16-year-old Douglas also secured a spot on the podium, finishing third in 23.10s in a thrilling race that once again showcased the region's sprinting prowess. The Caribbean duo was separated by Australia’s Torrie Lewis, who clocked a personal best of 22.88s for second.

    From the gun, Hodge, who was determined to improve on her previous silver medal finish, established herself as a solid contender for the top spot. With powerful strides and impeccable form, she maintained her composure around the curve and later exploded in the straight to leave rivals in her wake.

    Hodge’s win and Douglas’ bronze brought the curtains down on what was the most successful for the Caribbean since the start of the five-day Championships, as Kerrica Hill earlier copped Jamaica’s second gold medal when she clocked 12.99s to top the women’s 100m hurdles. She won ahead of Croatia’s Mia Wild (13.15s) and Delta Amidzovski (13.24s) of Australia.

    Jamaica now has two gold medals and one bronze, while Hodge claimed her country's first medal.

    Carlos Brown Jr (21.51s) of the Bahamas finished eighth in the men's 200m final.

    Prior to that, Jamaica’s Richard Hall and Cuba’s Yander Herrera missed out on the podium in the men’s final, as both clocked in at 13.46s for fifth and sixth. The event was won by American Ja’Kobe Tharp in a new World Under-20 leading time of 13.05s.

    His compatriot Andre Korbmacher (13.14s) was second, with China’s Yuanjiang Chen third in 13.21s, a national Under-20 record.

    Meanwhile, Michelle Smith of US Virgin Islands once again established herself as the gold medal favourite, as she was the fastest through to Saturday’s final. Smith clocked a brisk 56.39s to win semi-final two, while Haiti’s Gloria Guerrier (1:00.20) finished eighth and failed to progress.

    Jamaica’s Kelly Ann Carr suffered a similar fate in semi-final three as she placed eighth in 1:00.33.

    Only one Caribbean athlete will be present in the men’s final and that is Jamaica’s Daniel Wright, who topped semi-final three in 51.11s, while Trinidad and Tobago’s Cheyne West (53.09s) placed seventh in the same race and missed out.

    Another Jamaican Trevoy Smith (54.24s), also finished down the track in a brisk semi-final one, which saw the top two qualifiers crossing the line together in a World Under-20 leading time of 49.36s.

    The 400m hurdles finals are scheduled for 4:35pm Jamaica time on Saturday.

  • Jamaica fastest through to men’s and women’s 4x100m finals at World Under-20 Championships Jamaica fastest through to men’s and women’s 4x100m finals at World Under-20 Championships

    Jamaica’s female and male quartets both looked mightily impressive in the heats of the 4x100m relays on day four of the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru on Friday.

    The female team comprising Sabrina Dockery, Alliah Baker, Briana Campbell and Alana Reid first combined to easily win their heat in 43.81, the fastest time in qualifying.

    Puerto Rico, who ran a national Under-20 record 45.28 in second in that heat, also made it through to Saturday’s final.

    On the men’s side, the team of Jace Witter, Gary Card, Nyrone Wade and Deandre Daley won their heat in 39.54, also the fastest time in the heats.

    Trinidad & Tobago’s team of Che Jean-Marc Wickham, Kadeem Chinapoo, Hakeem Chinapoo and Dylan Woodruff will also be in the final after combining to run 39.77 to finish second behind the Jamaicans in heat four.

    Jamaica’s women also advanced to the final of the Women’s 4x400m. Abrina Wright, Shanque Williams, Anecia Campbell and Nastassia Fletcher combined to run 3:38.04 to finish second in their heat behind Colombia who won in 3:38.01.

    In the field, Jamaica’s Shaiquan Dunn threw 57.82m to advance to the final of the men’s discus.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.