Jewels illuminate world netball charts

THE Desert Jewels’ steady progress towards the summit of the International Netball Federation world rankings is the result of a meticulous strategy to return the code to its pre-imminent status in the country, says Netball Namibia vice president Rebekka Goagoses-Nekundi.

The Jewels made the biggest jump on the latest INF rankings released on Wednesday, moving from 30th to 23rd place. The INF determined the placings from results between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2019.

These matches have a 50% weighting, while those played from 1 July 2019 onwards have a 100% weighting.

An elated Goagoses-Nekundi told The Namibian Sport that years of toiling and planning are bearing fruit for a sport code which has for years languished in the doldrums, a stark contrast from its glittering past of the early 90s.

“When we took over in 2014, our vision was to get back our ranking. We were not on the rankings because we didn’t participate internationally. So, once we got the opportunity to do so, things started changing,” she said.

Namibia’s rampant rise on the rankings was aided in no small part by a surprising M1 Nations Cup victory in Singapore last year.

The sparkling Jewels belied their status as the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, upstaging their more fancied rivals, including upsetting hosts Singapore 49-42 in a thrilling final as they captured a historic maiden major international title.

Returning to the competition since 2013, Namibia won all but one of their six matches against the Republic of Ireland, neighbours Botswana, Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea.

“When we participated in the 2014 Africa Games in Botswana, we lost dismally, but it was important for us to start playing. The more you play, the more you get points,” said Goagoses-Nekundi .

“We never lost focus of our goal. We wanted to be 25th by 2020, but we are 23rd, so that’s a bonus. Our vision remains that we want to keep improving our ranking and challenge the bigger nations,” she said.

“The government and Debmarine Namibia supported us immensely for us to be here today, for which we are very grateful.”

This year, in light of the cancellation and postponement of matches due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the INF board decided to reduce the number of matches required to obtain a ranking from eight to six.

This allows some countries, who have not been able to play eight matches during this period, to maintain their rankings.

The latest rankings see Australia retain their position as the top team in the world, but New Zealand is closing the gap in second place.

England overtook Jamaica to claim back third place. Other changes in the top 20 see Malawi move up one place to sixth, Uganda move down to seventh while Zimbabwe move up a place to 12th and Barbados down to 13th.

More changes see Antigua and Barbuda move up to 31st place, and the Cayman Islands move up two places to 26th, while Botswana move down to 27th and Ireland down to 28th.

Lesotho join the rankings in 40th place.

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