Jamaica’s Young Sunshine Girls have secured their spot in the quarter-final round of the Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar, despite going down 64-33 to England in their final preliminary stage fixture.
The result means Jamaica finished second in Pool ‘C’ with six points, while England topped the group with a perfect record of eight points.
England signalled their intent early, racing to an 18-9 lead at the end of the first quarter before stretching the advantage to 36-17 at halftime. The Young Sunshine Girls showed fight in the third quarter but still trailed 46-27 heading into the final period, where the English pulled further away to complete the 31-goal victory.
With the group stage now complete, Jamaica will face Australia—winners of Pool ‘B’—in the last eight. England, meanwhile, will meet Scotland, who finished runners-up in that group.
Elsewhere, defending champions New Zealand topped Pool ‘A’ after a crushing 95-8 win over hosts Gibraltar. Samoa swept aside Northern Ireland 69-29, Scotland eased past Singapore 60-35, South Africa defeated Fiji 86-35, and Malawi outclassed Barbados 70-23.
