Barbados have failed to crack the top eight of the World Netball Championships after going down to Malawi 73-44 early yesterday morning in Singapore and will have to play for a position from nine to 16.
Barbados needed to win this match to reach the quarter-finals, but they seemed to have left it all against England on the previous day.
Still, it didn’t get away from them until the second quarter. Malawi, the No. 7 team in the world, took the early 6-2 lead, but Barbados didn’t let them get too far ahead, closing to 14-12 and 17-13 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second, Malawi seemed to establish their rhythm and this is where they exerted control on the game through some long passes, taking advantage of their superior height. They extended the lead to 21-14, jumped to 26-16, and at half time were comfortably leading 35-22.
The decision to leave Lydia Bishop on the bench and bring her on in the second half seemed to backfire. It would have worked perfectly if the starting unit had been able to keep Malawi in check and her fresh legs and accuracy would have given the team a lift.
When she came on, she shot 19 from 20 as centre Sabreena Smith found her with the trademark long overhead passes, but the damage had already been done and there was no reducing the deficit.
Laurel Browne scored 15 from 20 and Nikita Piggott also chipped in.
Barbados had no answer for Malawi’s Mwayi Kumwenda who used her height against Shonette Bruce and Faye Sealy in the second half with 48 goals from 54 attempts.
Barbados will take on Sri Lanka in the next round, and a possible match up against world No. 5 Fiji who were upset by Trinidad and Tobago. Fiji will play Singapore, Samoa take on Malaysia and Botswana will be up against Wales.
The top eight teams – New Zealand, Australia, Jamaica, England, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa and Malawi – have earned a day’s rest, but their match-ups have also been decided.
England will play Northern Ireland, New Zealand have drawn South Africa, Australia play Malawi and in the all-Caribbean match-up Jamaica take on Trinidad and Tobago.
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