Sat. Nov 16th, 2024
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Nia Jones in action for Wales
Wales are playing at their first World Cup
Venue: Cape Town, South Africa Dates: 28 July to 6 August
Coverage: Watch live coverage across BBC TV and the BBC iPlayer, listen to commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, 5 Sports Extra & BBC Sounds and follow text commentary of selected matches on the BBC Sport website and app.

Wales suffered a second successive defeat of their Netball World Cup campaign as they succumbed to Jamaica in Pool C in Cape Town.

Jamaica, the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallists, led 23-11 after the first quarter in which Wales rallied from an early 6-1 deficit.

Wales trailed 44-23 at half time and were 58-29 down as the Sunshine Girls dominated the third quarter.

There was no respite as Jamaica looked to Sunday’s showdown with South Africa.

Welsh Feathers coach Emily Handyside made one starting line-up change from their opening 61-50 defeat by hosts South Africa with Shona O’Dwyer coming in for Clare Jones at centre.

Jamaica had beaten beat Welsh Feathers’ next opponents Sri Lanka 105-25 in their opener.

Welsh Feathers, who are world ranked ninth, must beat the Lionesses, ranked 15th, on Sunday (08:00 BST) to reach the classification rounds.

Wales confirmed their place at the tournament, qualifying for their first World Cup since 2015, with an unbeaten European qualifying campaign.

They next face Sri Lanka at 08:00 BST on Sunday, 30 July in their final Group C match.

Wales captain Nia Jones told Sky Sports: “We were coming off the back of a really exciting night last night, really short recovery and I’m actually really proud of some moments in there.

“We saw the amount of goals that Jamaica managed to put on Sri Lanka yesterday and we kept them to 30 less than that.

“I’m really pleased with some passages of play.

“Sarie Watkins, 18 years of age, coming on in that last quarter and shooting 100% against some really world class defenders – it’s unbelievable for us and really exciting, knowing we’ve had 12 players who’ve had a taste of it now going into a must-win match against Sri Lanka tomorrow.”

Wales squad: Nia Jones (capt), Bethan Dyke (vice-captain), Lucy Howells, Clare Jones, Nansi Kuti, Zoe Matthewman, Shona O’Dwyer, Ella Powell-Davies, Georgia Rowe, Christina Shaw, Sarie Watkins, Phillipa Yarranton.

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