Tonga and Fiji have qualified for the Netball World Cup 2023, the former after having blitzed through all their games undefeated while the latter had to work hard to secure their spot on the final day of the Oceania NWC Qualifiers 2022 at the Vodafone Arena on Saturday.
The Tongans won all their matches and had secured their spot two days earlier, on Thursday, after their convincing 89-28 win over Papua New Guinea, one of the four matches that they proved their dominance in including the 59-29 victory over the home team, in what was also Fiji’s only loss over the 5-day tournament.
Tonga captain Hulita Veve was named player of the tournament.
In qualifying, Tonga and Fiji became the first two teams from a regional qualifier to make the NWC2023 cut as the Oceania qualifier was the first of five qualifiers to be held for the NWC2023 to be held in Cape Town, South Africa.
Having finished third Samoa missed the cut for the world event, their first since making their debut in the 1991 edition. The Cook Islands finished fourth and Papua New Guinea brought up the tail end.
Day 1, Tuesday 19 July
Fiji 74-32 PNG; Samoa 52-69 Tonga
Day 2, Wednesday 20 July
Cook Islands 66-48 PNG; Fiji 29-59 Tonga
Day 3, Thursday 21 July
Cook Islands 35-54 Samoa; PNG 28-89 Tonga
Day 4, Friday 22 July
Cook Islands 43-70; Fiji 45-43 Samoa
Day 5, Saturday 23 July
Samoa 85-32 PNG; Cook Islands 34-51 Fiji
