Disastrous may be the only way to describe the T&T Under-21 netball team's start to the World Youth Netball Championships in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. The junior Calypso Girls were well beaten by the reigning champion New Zealand, 89-31 on Wednesday at the new Tereora Multi Purpose Sporting Complex, in their second match of the competition. Led by captain Joelisa Cooper, T&T fought from beginning to end but it was clear that they were no match for the unbeaten Kiwis.
Cooper, who netted 19 goals from 20 attempts in their opening match against Northern Ireland, remained consistent in her shooting, only missing five tries to score 13. Both Adasha Norton (12/17) and Samantha Wallace (6/9)supported her in the circle. T&T's defence struggled to contain New Zealand shooter Paula Griffin who connected 64 goals from 69 tries. Jamaica remains the most successful Caribbean side thus far, with two victories under its belt, easily whipping Singapore, 75-24 in its second round match.
Tomorrow T&T will play its final pool match against Scotland. Yesterday though, the local team was scheduled to play Barbados in search of its first victory. The Calypso Girls are on a bye today.
Following the final round of matches teams will be reseeded with only the top two teams from each of the four pools advancing to the "Top Eight" to battle for the title. The other teams will compete for the "middle eight" (9-16 places), who play a quarterfinal round, and the "bottom four" (17-20 places) will play a round-robin.
Results
Pool A
New Zealand 89 vs T&T 31
Northern Ireland 53 vs Scotland 40
Pool B
England 57 vs Wales 32
Malaysia 74 vs Vanuatu 36
Pool C
Australia 89 vs Samoa 38
Fiji 43 vs Botswana 31
Pool D
Jamaica 75 vs Singapore 24
Malawi 85 vs Papua New Guinea 20
