In 2018, the Commonwealth Games headed to the Gold Coast, Australia for the 21st edition of the games and the 6th staging of netball at the multi-sport event. The netball took place over 10 days from the 5th-15th April across two venues; the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre.
12 teams qualified for the tournament as of the INF World Rankings on the 1st July 2017:
1 – Australia
2 – New Zealand
3 – England
4 – Jamaica
5 – South Africa
6 – Malawi
7 – Fiji
8 – Wales
9 – Uganda
10 – Northern Ireland
11 – Barbados
12 – Scotland
In the preliminary rounds, Pool A saw Australia and Jamaica secure places in the semi-finals and Pool B saw England take the top position after a win against their rivals New Zealand with the final score ending 54-45.
The semi-finals saw netball at its finest and after a strong game, Australia overcame New Zealand 65-44 to win their place in the final. After a last-second goal, Jo Harten helped England to take the win over Jamaica, creating history by reaching their first Commonwealth Games final.
The gold and bronze medal matches were held on 15th April 2018, two years ago today at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre and they certainly did not disappoint netball fans. The bronze medal match between Jamaica and New Zealand set the scene for the day. After producing strong performances throughout the tournament and closely missing out on a place in the final, Jamaica beat New Zealand 60-55 to take home the bronze medal.
The final between Australia and England had netball fans on the edge of their seat for all 60 minutes, but after a last-second penalty goal from Helen Housby, England created history for a second time in the tournament by taking home the gold medal, beating the reigning world champions Australia 52-51.
The final placings were as follows:
1 – England
2 – Australia
3 – Jamaica
4 – New Zealand
5 – South Africa
6 – Uganda
7 – Malawi
8 – Northern Ireland
9 – Scotland
10 – Barbados
11 – Wales
12 – Fiji
In the UK, 1.8 million people tuned in to the watch the 2018 Commonwealth Games final and one year on, in 2019, England Netball recorded that more than 130,000 people were inspired to play netball as a result of England’s gold medal win.
After a fantastic summer of sport at the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019, we look forward to the 2022 Commonwealth Games which will take place in Birmingham, England from the 27th of July to the 7th August. Netball will be held at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham. For more information on Birmingham 2022 click here.
