2015 Netball World Cup

Bids to host the 2015 Netball World Cup were submitted to the International Netball Federation (INF) in 2010. The two candidate cities chosen were Manchester, England and Sydney, Australia. In March 2011, INF delegates convened in Singapore, host nation of the 2011 World Netball Championships, to consider both bids. At the end of the conference, Sydney was announced as the host city for the 2015 tournament.

This is the second time that Sydney hosted the competition, and the third time in Australia. Sydney last hosted the event in 1991, where Australia won a closely contested final against New Zealand.^[4]

The sixty four matches were played at the Allphones Arena and Netball Central in Sydney Olympic Park. Allphones Arena hosted the majority of the matches while Netball Central served as the official training venue for all sixteen participating teams. It also hosted pool matches, play-offs and placing games.^[5][6]

This is a list of the broadcasters for the tournament in competing countries and regions.

Country	Broadcaster
Australia	Fox Sports (All Matches) Network Ten (Australian Matches Only)
Fiji	Fiji TV FBC TV
Ireland	Sky Sports
Malawi	SuperSport
New Zealand	Sky Sport
South Africa	SuperSport
Uganda	SuperSport
United Kingdom	Sky Sports
Zambia	SuperSport
Region	Broadcaster
Pacific Islands	Fiji TV Sky Pacific
Sub-Saharan Africa	SuperSport

Seventeen umpires from six countries officiated matches at the tournament.^[7]

Nation	Umpire
AUS	Rachael Ayre
AUS	Josh Bowring
AUS	Paula Ferguson
AUS	Sharon Kelly
AUS	Michelle Phippard
ENG	Gary Burgess
ENG	Ian Fuller
ENG	Jackie Mizon
ENG	Tracy Smith
JAM	Dave Brown
NZL	Jonathan Bredin
NZL	Lisa McPhail
NZL	Yvonne Morgan
NZL	Kristie Simpson
RSA	Theresa Prince
RSA	Marie-Louw Van Der Merwe
TRI	Joel Young-Strong

Sixteen teams contested the 2015 tournament.^[4] The home nation automatically qualified, along with the next five highest-ranked teams from the 2011 World Netball Championships:

•   Australia (host nation)
•   New Zealand
•   England
•   Jamaica
•   Malawi
•   South Africa

Qualification Tournaments The remaining ten teams were determined by regional qualifying tournaments, with two teams selected from each of the five international netball regions; Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.^{[8][citation needed]}

Region	Host	Teams	Dates	Winner	Runner up
Europe	Wales	4	30 May – 1 June 2014	Wales	Scotland
Oceania	Cook Islands	4	2–7 June 2014	Fiji	Samoa
Americas	Canada	8	19–28 August 2014	Trinidad and Tobago	Barbados
Asia	Singapore	10	7–14 September 2014	Singapore	Sri Lanka
Africa	Botswana	8	14–20 September 2014	Uganda	Zambia

There was no draw for the tournament, instead the 16 qualified teams were allocated into four pools (A, B, C and D) according to their INF World Rankings of 1 July 2014,^[9] as per following criteria:^[10]

• Pool A – teams seeded 1, 2, 9, 10
• Pool B – teams seeded 3, 4, 11, 12
• Pool C – teams seeded 5, 6, 13, 14
• Pool D – teams seeded 7, 8, 15, 16
• Subject to a maximum of two teams from the same region per pool, in case of a third team from the same region, they are switched with the closest ranked team from a different pool. After the original allocation, Sri Lanka and Uganda swapped pools to comply with this rule.^[9]

Rankings reflect the teams' rankings in July 2014.

The 2015 tournament consisted of 64 matches played over ten days from 7–16 August. It included three stages – a preliminary pool stage, a qualifying pool stage, and a knockout series of semi-finals and finals. The 16 participating teams were initially divided into four pools (A, B, C and D) of four teams. During the preliminary pool stage, teams in each pool played each other once. In every pool match, two points were awarded to a winning team, while no points were given to a losing team.^[11]

The qualification round consisted of two First Eight pools (E and F), which were formed from two teams with the highest number of points in each of the preliminary matches pools, and two Second Eight pools (G and H), formed from the bottom two teams in each of the preliminary matches pools. In this stage, teams in each pool played each other once.

The two teams with the highest number of points in each of the two First Eight pools advanced to the semi-finals. The winners of the semifinals contested the final, while the losers played for the bronze medal (3rd place). The bottom two teams in each of these pools entered a knockout stage to determine fifth to eighth place. The teams from the two Second Eight pools are similarly divided, eventually entering two knockout stages for 9th to 12th place and 13th to 16th place.

5th to 8th

15 August 16:30 (AEST)	Report	Malawi	71–52	Wales		Allphones Arena
		Kumwenda   49/53 (92%) Simtowe   15/17 (88%) Chimaliro   6/6 (100%) Mvula   1/1 (100%)		Lewis   40/45 (89%) Thomas   7/10 (70%) Rowe   5/5 (100%)

15 August 17:15 (AEST)	Report	South Africa	50–40	Uganda		Netball Central
		Potgieter   36/38 (95%) Holtzhausen   14/17 (82%)		Nanyonga   22/29 (76%) Proscovia   18/24 (75%)

9th to 12th

15 August 09:30 (AEST)	Report	Fiji	51–54	Samoa		Netball Central
		Mitchell   33/34 (97%) Rusivakula   18/23 (78%)		Naoupu   35/42 (83%) Tanimo   11/14 (79%) Too   8/11 (73%)

15 August 09:35 (AEST)	Report	Trinidad and Tobago	57–56 (aet)	Scotland		Netball Central
		Wallace   49/54 (91%) Cooper   6/9 (67%) McCollin   2/2 (100%)		Gallagher   31/40 (78%) MacDonald   19/21 (90%) Sole   6/7 (86%)

13th to 16th

15 August 10:00 (AEST)	Report	Barbados	56–39	Singapore		Allphones Arena
		Sealy   43/49 (88%) Piggott   12/15 (80%) Thomas   1/3 (33%)		Soh   28/34 (82%) Chen   7/10 (70%) Liew   3/4 (75%) Yu   1/1 (100%)

15 August 17:15 (AEST)	Report	Zambia	70–36	Sri Lanka		Netball Central
		Bwalya   28/34 (82%) Banda   22/24 (92%) Jere   20/21 (95%)		Algama   29/31 (94%) Mendis   7/9 (78%)

5th place

16 August 11:00 (AEST)	Report	Malawi	46–48	South Africa		Allphones Arena
		Kumwenda   36/41 (88%) Simtowe   10/11 (91%)		Potgieter   32/34 (94%) Holtzhausen   16/22 (73%)

7th place

16 August 10:50 (AEST)	Report	Wales	64–41	Uganda		Netball Central
		Rowe   32/38 (84%) Lewis   31/35 (89%) Thomas   1/1 (100%)		Proscovia   31/34 (91%) Nanyonga   4/5 (80%) Oyella   6/6 (100%)

9th place

16 August 08:50 (AEST)	Report	Trinidad and Tobago	64–51	Samoa		Netball Central
		Wallace   53/60 (88%) Cooper   11/12 (92%)		Naoupu   32/36 (89%) Too   19/25 (76%)

11th place

16 August 08:55 (AEST)	Report	Fiji	51–41	Scotland		Netball Central
		Mitchell   29/31 (94%) Rusivakula   22/26 (85%)		Gallagher   22/27 (81%) MacDonald   17/18 (94%) Sole   2/5 (40%)

13th place

16 August 08:50 (AEST)	Report	Barbados	53–38	Zambia		Allphones Arena
		Wharton   22/25 (88%) Sealy   20/23 (87%) Piggott   11/13 (85%)		Bwalya   17/24 (71%) Banda   10/15 (67%) Jere   7/12 (58%) Moono   4/8 (50%)

15th place

16 August 10:55 (AEST)	Report	Singapore	59–32	Sri Lanka		Netball Central
		Soh   41/50 (82%) Chen   8/11 (73%) Yu   5/8 (63%) Liew   5/11 (45%)		Mendis   15/19 (79%) Algama   11/13 (85%) Abeywickrama   6/9 (67%)

At the conclusion of qualifying pool play Australia, England, Jamaica and New Zealand advanced into the semi-finals. This was the fifth time in the last five tournaments that the world's top four ranked sides had reached the semi-final stage.^[12] New Zealand led England throughout the first semi-final, pulling away in the last fifteen minutes to post a 50 points to 39 win.^[12] In the other semi final Australia eased past Jamaica 67 to 56, outpointing them in three of the four-quarters.^[13]

In the final Australia outplayed New Zealand in the first quarter to lead 16–7. Despite winning each of the next three-quarters New Zealand were unable to make up the difference. Australia extended their lead to 12 goals early in the second quarter, before New Zealand played their way back into the game. At half-time the score was 30 to 22 and at the start of the last quarter 43 to 37.^[14] With a minute remaining Australia led by just three goals, but were able to hold their nerve to record a 58 to 55 goal victory.^[15]

The defensive work of captain Laura Geitz and Julie Corletto along with accurate goal shooting from Caitlin Bassett helped set up the Australian win.^[15] New Zealand goal attack Maria Tutaia said they were too complacent in the first quarter and could not handle the defensive pressure from Australia.^[16] Geitz praised her attackers for capitalising on every opportunity and also said that the "first quarter set us up nicely."^[17] The Australians shooters scored goals at a 91 percent success rate while their defenders held the New Zealanders to just 73 percent.^[18] Corletto retired after the game, ending a twelve-year career that includes 53 tests and three world titles.^[19] Australia has now won the World Cup three times in a row and eleven times in total.^[17] In the bronze medal match England beat Jamaica 66–44.^[20]

	Semi finals				Final
	15 August
	New Zealand	50
					16 August
	England	39
					New Zealand	55
	15 August
					Australia	58
	Australia	67
	Jamaica	56
					Bronze medal match
					16 August
					England	66
					Jamaica	44

15 August 12:10 (AEST)	Report	New Zealand	50–39	England		Allphones Arena
		Tutaia   35/42 (83%) Mes   15/22 (68%)		Harten   31/36 (86%) Cookey   7/10 (70%) Housby   1/4 (25%)

15 August 14:20 (AEST)	Report	Australia	67–56	Jamaica		Allphones Arena
		Bassett   49/52 (94%) Medhurst   18/19 (95%)		Aiken   33/36 (92%) Beckford   14/16 (88%) Fowler-Reid   9/10 (90%)

16 August 13:10 (AEST)	Report	England	66–44	Jamaica		Allphones Arena
		Harten   52/59 (88%) Cookey   14/18 (78%)		Aiken   26/28 (93%) Fowler-Reid   12/13 (92%) Beckford   6/6 (100%)

16 August 15:20 (AEST)	Report	New Zealand	55–58	Australia		Allphones Arena
		Scoring by quarter: 7–16, 15–14, 15–13, 14–15
		Tutaia   38/53 (72%) Mes   17/22 (77%)		Bassett   48/51 (94%) Medhurst   10/13 (77%)

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Australia Coach: Lisa Alexander	New Zealand Coach: Waimarama Taumaunu	England Coach: Tracey Neville
Caitlin Thwaites Natalie Medhurst Erin Bell Paige Hadley Julie Corletto Rebecca Bulley Sharni Layton Caitlin Bassett Kimberlee Green Kim Ravaillion Renae Hallinan Laura Geitz	Malia Paseka Jodi Brown Grace Rasmussen Kayla Cullen Leana de Bruin Phoenix Karaka Bailey Mes Shannon Francois Katrina Grant Maria Tutaia Laura Langman Casey Kopua	Joanne Harten Helen Housby Tamsin Greenway Jade Clarke Serena Guthrie Sonia Mkoloma Eboni Beckford-Chambers Pamela Cookey Geva Mentor Sara Bayman Rachel Dunn Stacey Francis

Source:^[21][22]

External videos
Netball World Cup 2015 Final: Australia v New Zealand on YouTube
Netball World Cup 2015 Semi Final: Australia v Jamaica on YouTube
Netball World Cup 2015 Semi Final: England v New Zealand on YouTube

• NWC2015 website