Kenya netball Divas' intensify preparations for Australian tourney

National women’s netball team, Divas, are in non-residential training at the City Stadium grounds in preparations for their maiden appearance at the invitational PacificAus Sports Netball Series.

The event is set for 24 to 29 April at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre in Australia with eight teams, divided into two pools set to compete.

Kabucho hoping S.A trip will open doors for professional career

For the first time, African nations Kenya, Malawi and Zambia will travel to Australia to compete in the competition against returning teams Fiji, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa, Singapore and dual-series champions Tonga. 

The inclusion of the three African nations provides an opportunity for Pacific partner countries to improve their performance through exposure to teams rarely competed against. 

Run by Netball Australia, under the PacificAus Sports program and funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the series is in its third edition.

The series highlights the skills, talent and athleticism of Pacific netball athletes, and aims to provide high-level competition for the national teams of Netball Australia’s PacificAus Sports partners.

“The team is begun preparations on Tuesday last week with 16 players in camp. The final squad is likely to be named on 12 April,” head coach Joseph Makau offered.

Kenya has landed a tough pool B that has two-time series winners Tonga, African rivals Zambia and Singapore while pool A has Malawi, Samoa, Fiji and PNG.

The series hit Australia for the first time in March and October 2022, to establish itself as a pivotal tournament for international netball teams’ preparation in the lead up to the 2023 Netball World Cup in July.

Dates

Opening Ceremony: 6:30pm – 7:00pm Sunday 23 April

Tournament: Monday 24 April to Saturday 29 April

Grand Final: Saturday 29 April

FIXTURE (Australian time)

Day 1 – Monday 24 April

Kenya v Zambia – 1.30pm

Samoa v Papua New Guinea – 3.30pm

Tonga v Singapore – 5.30pm

Fiji v Malawi – 7.30pm

Day 2 – Tuesday 25 April

Zambia v Singapore – 1.30pm

Malawi v Papua New Guinea – 3.30pm

Tonga v Kenya – 5.30pm

Samoa v Fiji – 7.30pm

Day 3 – Wednesday 26 April

Singapore v Kenya – 1.30pm

Papua New Guinea v Fiji – 3.30pm

Malawi v Samoa – 5.30pm

Zambia v Tonga – 7.30pm

Day 4 – Thursday 27 April

4th Pool A v 3rd Pool B – 1.30pm

3rd Pool A v 4th Pool B – 3.30pm

2nd Pool A v 1st Pool B – 5.30pm

1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B – 7.30pm

Day 5 – Friday 28 April

4th Pool B v 3rd Pool A – 1.30pm

3rd Pool B v 4th Pool A – 3.30pm

1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A – 5.30pm

2nd Pool B v 1st Pool A – 7.30pm

Day 6 – Saturday 29 April

Placing 8th and 7th – 2.00pm

Placing 6th and 5th – 4.00pm

Placing 4th and 3rd – 6.00pm

Grand Final – 8.00pm