The Oceania Netball World Cup Qualifiers will run from the 19th-23rd of July, and are the first of the five qualifiers for the Netball World Cup 2023 (NWC2023) in Cape Town, South Africa.
The event will be hosted by Netball Fiji, and will take place in Suva with the hosts welcoming Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, and the Cook Islands for five days of competition.
The competition will be played in a round robin format, with each match needing a winner.
The winner will be awarded two points.
In the event of a draw extra time will be allocated, with a four minute internal at the end of the match. The extra time will then be played in two seven-minute halves, with a one minute break at half-time.
If the match is still a draw at the end of the extra time, play will continue until one team has a 2 goals advantage.
At the end of the tournament, the top two teams will then be invited by World Netball to compete at the NWC2023.
If teams are equal on points at the end of the competition, goal percentage will be used to determine placings.
Here is the schedule:
DATE | TIME (Fiji Time / BST) | MATCH |
---|---|---|
Tuesday 19th July | 5:30pm / 6:30am | Fiji vs Papua New Guinea |
Tuesday 19th July | 7:30pm / 8:30am | Samoa vs Tonga |
Wednesday 20th July | 5:30pm / 6:30am | Cook Islands vs Papua New Guinea |
Wednesday 20th July | 7:30pm / 8:30am | Fiji vs Tonga |
Thursday 21st July | 5:30pm / 6:30am | Cook Islands vs Samoa |
Thursday 21st July | 7:30pm / 8:30am | Papua New Guinea vs Tonga |
Friday 22nd July | 5:30pm / 6:30am | Cook Islands vs Tonga |
Friday 22nd July | 7:30pm / 8:30am | Fiji vs Samoa |
Saturday 23rd July | 2:00pm / 3:00am | Samoa vs Papua New Guinea |
Saturday 23rd July | 4:00pm / 5:00am | Cook Islands vs Fiji |
Speaking on the excitement of the event, Director of Oceania Netball, Wainikiti Bogidrau said: “Judging by recent performances, it is quite difficult to predict the two teams that will qualify from Oceania.
“We are expecting a highly intensive and competitive event.
“I am excited for all the teams and expect them to field their best squads for the tournament.
“May the best two qualify.”
World Netball has announced that it will be streaming all the matches on NetballPass for free for international viewers.
You can sign up to NetballPass for free here.
The platform was home to Netball New Zealand’s ANZ Premiership 2022; those with a NetballPass account already won’t need to register again and will be ready to go by logging in here.
To find out where the teams are currently ranked, you can view our World Netball World Rankings here.
To view the officials selected for the event, click here.
To find out more about the event, visit our events calendar here.
For more information on Oceania Netball, you can visit their website here.