Excitement is building as we get closer to the Netball World Cup 2023, set to take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from the 28th of July 28th to the 6th of August, the first time it will be held on African soil.
The 16 teams participating have been grouped into four pools of four.
Pool A consists of 11-time champions Australia, as well as Tonga, Zimbabwe, and Fiji.
Pool B contains England, Malawi, Scotland, and Barbados. The tussle between Scotland and Barbados will be a good one to see while Malawi may push England closer than expected.
Pool C sees Jamaica, hosts South Africa, Wales and Sri Lanka take on each other.
Pool D has defending champions New Zealand, Uganda, Trinidad and Tobago and Singapore.
Stage one of the preliminaries is contested in a round-robin format. The top three finishers in each group will progress to play a further 3 matches in stage two. Those teams from Groups A and B make up a new Group F while the top three teams from Groups C and D form a new Group G.
Teams within Group F or G that have already played each other in stage one, carry the results from those matches through to stage two and don’t face off again.
Meanwhile, the teams that finished 4th in their pool form a new Group E and play a round-robin followed by play-off matches to determine places 13 to 16.
Back at the top of the pile, after the second stage matches have concluded, the teams finishing in the top two of Group F and G progress to the semi-finals, followed by the medal matches while those finishing lower down, play off for the minor places.
Details on tickets and travel packages and more information are all available on the official tournament website (www.nwc2023.org.za).
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images : Pictured from left Cecilia Molokwane, President of Netball South Africa, shakes hands with Anroux Marais, Western Cape Minister Cultural Affairs at the handover of the Netball World Cup Trophy by Western Cape to the City of Cape Town. To the right is Cllr Patricia van der Ross, MMC of Community Services and Health of the City of Cape Town and Deputy Mayor of the City of Cape Town Ald. Eddie Andrews.