Wales Off The Mark At World Cup, But Nia Jones Urges Improvement

Nia Jones believes Wales can add to their first victory at the Netball World Cup in South Africa.

Skipper Jones and her team earned their first victory in their third match at the tournament when they beat Sri Lanka, 68-56.

After defeats to South Africa and Jamaica, Wales got off the mark, although Jones admitted: “I think it took us a little bit too long to get into the game.

“We spoke beforehand about having to be on our best to beat this Sri Lankan team, they were undoubtedly going to improve as the tournament went along and of course they’ve got really accurate target shooters in there and we’re not the tallest of teams, so we had to be creative with the strategies that we won ball with today.

“We will undoubtedly have to be better than we were today tomorrow against New Zealand, but I’ve got confidence we can be.”

Wales secure their first win of the 2023 Netball World cup!👏🏼⿭⿭⿭

🎤Welsh Feathers captain @niajones92 reflects on the match against Sri Lanka. pic.twitter.com/wzKicen0Ix

— Sky Sports Netball (@SkyNetball) July 30, 2023

With both Wales and Sri Lanka chasing a first victory in Cape Town, there was plenty to play for when the two sides went head-to-head in their final Group C clash on Sunday.

On the line was a place in the second stage of the preliminaries with only the top three teams in each pool progressing, and it was the Welsh Feathers who got the job done.

While the Sri Lankans stayed within striking distance for much of the opening quarter, some great intercepts from the Welsh ensured they edged ahead, taking a six-goal advantage into the first break.

Wales defeat Sri Lanka to record their first win at the 2023 Netball World Cup 🏐#BBCNetball https://t.co/6nJ3PrcVkr

— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) July 30, 2023

The tallest player in the tournament 2.06m Tharjini Sivalingam came on at goal shooter after the main break and made all the difference, with the Sri Lankans producing their highest-scoring quarter.

But, a 10-goal gap by the end of the period proved too much to close and with goal shooter Georgia Rowe completing a near-flawless performance in the Wales circle with 49 goals from 50 attempts, the Feathers wrapped up the crucial 68-56 victory.

Nothing but respect 🤝

It was a hard-fought clash as @WalesNetball_ edge Sri Lanka 68-56 to pick up their first win in Cape Town ☝️#NWC2023 pic.twitter.com/nIjmQqSyFY

— World Netball (@WorldNetball_) July 30, 2023