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Silver Ferns wing attack Gina Crampton fires off a pass against Singapore.
At Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town: Silver Ferns 80 (Te Paea Selby-Rickit: 49/51, Ameliaranne Ekenasio: 4/6, Maia Wilson: 15/19, Grace Nweke: 12/13) Singapore 19 (Amandeep Chahal: 12/21, Kai Wei Toh: 7/18) 1Q: 17-7, HT: 41-9, 3Q: 61-14.
Grace Nweke hobbling off the court to the physio’s table wasn’t what the Silver Ferns wanted in their final pool game.
New Zealand finished preliminaries stage one of the Netball World Cup with an emphatic 80-19 win over Singapore on Sunday night (NZ time) to remain unbeaten.
As expected it was one-way traffic for the Ferns, but the bigger worry was seeing star goal shoot Nweke promptly taken off the court after a knock to her right knee midway through the third quarter.
The Ferns medical staff didn’t take any chances, promptly taking Nweke to the physio’s table, where she was seen icing her right knee. It may have been a precautionary move, but the Ferns will hope there are no issues with Nweke ahead of the crunch stage of the tournament.
Nweke hurt her knee while running along the baseline trying to make herself available for a pass, colliding with Singapore goal defence Shu Ning Yew.
With the first stage preliminaries complete, the Ferns now quickly turn their attention towards the crossover stage.
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Te Paea Selby-Rickit had a strong outing in the Silver Ferns’ shooting end against Singapore.
They will take on Wales in their next game on Monday night (9pm NZ time) before two crunch clashes later in the week against hosts South Africa and Jamaica prior to the semifinals.
The lowest ranked side at the World Cup, 28th ranked Singapore were always going to battle to match it with the world champion Ferns.
New Zealand won 89-21 when the sides last met at the 2019 Netball World Cup and it was a similar story this time around, though Singapore offered greater fight.
Singapore weren’t overawed by the Ferns early, starting well, and only trailed 8-5. It didn’t take long for normal service to resume and the Ferns to pull away on the scoreboard, going on a 20-3 run.
New Zealand rocketed out to a 10-1 start to the second quarter and by that stage the score read 27-8. The Ferns won the second quarter by a 24-2 margin to go into halftime 41-9 ahead.
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Phoenix Karaka assesses her options for the Silver Ferns against Singapore.
Lacking height, Singapore made the most of their speed across the court and some quick ball movement.
Starting her first game of the tournament, Jane Watson made an immediate impact at goal keep, picking up an intercept off Singapore’s opening possession.
Playing their third game in 50 hours and with their place in the next round alreadyu confirmed, coach Dame Noeline Taurua experimented with her starting seven.
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Captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio puts up an attempt in the Ferns’ crushing win over Singapore.
Circle defender Kelly Jury, who saw minutes in the first two matches at wing defence, was handed the start there. Maddy Gordon, who played just 45 minutes across the first two matches, gained the start at centre.
Te Paea Selby-Rickit made the most of her minutes, impressing at goal shoot in the first half, where she landed 29 from 31 attempts. Selby-Rickit switched to goal attack in the second half and continued to rack up the goals. She finished with 49 goals from 51 attempts, also securing two rebounds, playing the full 60 minutes.
Best on court
Take your pick with Gordon in the midcourt, Selby-Rickit, and Watson all among the standouts. Selby-Rickit was a menace for the Singapore circle defenders, having few answers for her height and skill. She showed how important she is to this squad with a quality performance.
The big moment
Singapore were impressive early and only trailed 8-5 after the opening six minutes. That was as close as they’d get with New Zealand’s class shining through and the Ferns feasting off their errors.
Match rating: 5/10
It’s always hard for a team when you’re expected to win and win by plenty. New Zealand were scratchy early, but eventually got into their work. Bring on the crossover stage where matches will be far more competitive.
The big picture
With preliminaries stage one officially in the books, the World Cup begins to heat up for the Ferns. They’ll play Wales in their opening crossover game on Monday night (NZT) before facing South Africa and Jamaica later in the week. The latter two games will have plenty riding on it and determine the Ferns’ semifinal fate.
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