The Netball World Cup is here for 2023, with the Australian Diamonds one of the hot favourites to take out gold for a remarkable 11th time.
But they’ll face stiff opposition from the likes of New Zealand, Jamaica, England and South Africa as 16 nations attempt to be crowned world champions.
All you need to know about the 2023 Netball World Cup
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WHAT IS IT?
The Netball World Cup is the pinnacle of the sport with international bragging rights – and gold medal glory – up for grabs. The tournament features a pool stage, preliminaries and then placing and playoff matches across a 10-day period.
WHEN IS IT?
The Netball World Cup begins on Friday, July 28 and runs until Sunday, August 6 (local time, but Monday, August 7 in Australia).
WHERE IS IT?
This year’s event is being held in Cape Town, South Africa. It’s the first time South Africa has hosted a Netball World Cup.
WHO IS COMPETING?
16 teams will take part in the four-group series, with reigning champions New Zealand at the top of one group. Under the international netball rankings, Australia sit atop another pool, with England and Jamaica rounding out the other leaders.
Pool A: Australia, Tonga, Zimbabwe, Fiji
Pool B: England, Malawi, Scotland, Barbados
Pool C: Jamaica, South Africa, Wales, Sri Lanka
Pool D: New Zealand, Uganda, Trinidad & Tobago, Singapore
AUSTRALIA’S GAME TIMES (AEST):
Friday, July 28 from 7pm: vs Zimbabwe
Saturday, July 29 from 7pm: vs Tonga
Sunday, July 30 from 5pm: vs Fiji
Second stage: Australia’s Pool A will join with England’s Pool B for the second stage of the tournament – creating what is known as Pool F.
Should Australia finish atop of Pool F, they’ll play matches:
Monday, July 31 from 5pm
Tuesday, August 1 from 7pm
Thursday, August 3 from 5pm
Should Australia finish second in Pool F, they’ll play matches:
Tuesday, August 1 from 2am
Wednesday, August 2 from 12am
Friday, August 4 from 2am
Semi finals:
Saturday, August 5 from 7pm or Sunday, August 6 from 12am
Bronze medal match:
Monday, August 7 from 12am
Gold medal match:
Monday, August 7 from 2am
HOW TO WATCH:
All of Australia’s games will be shown live and free on Kayo Freebies. All World Cup games will be available live to Foxtel and Kayo Sports customers.
SQUAD:
The Diamonds will take a 12-player squad to Cape Town, plus three travelling reserves who will serve as injury replacements. Note: Once a player is replaced in the tournament, they cannot return to the court.
Sunday Aryang
Kiera Austin
Ash Brazill
Courtney Bruce
Sophie Garbin
Paige Hadley
Sarah Klau
Cara Koenen
Jamie-Lee Price
Liz Watson
Jo Weston
Steph Wood
Travelling reserves: Donnell Wallam, Ruby Bakewell-Doran, Kate Moloney
HISTORY:
It’s the 60th anniversary of the Netball World Cup, previously called the World Championships. The Diamonds have never missed a gold medal match in Netball World Cup history and remain the most successful nation in the sport. But they aren’t current world champions, with that honour going to rivals New Zealand after the Silver Ferns pipped Australia with a one-goal win in Liverpool in 2019.
Australia are 10-time Netball World Cup champions and head into the tournament with every trophy available to them across a stellar two-year period – except the prized gold medal.
Australia and New Zealand have been the World Cup finalists in all but two of the 15 gold medal matches.
But there’s been a shifting of the guard in netball with England the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallists and Jamaica taking silver in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
