GC2018 Netball Competition Pools and Match Schedule Announced

The official pools and match schedule for the preliminary rounds of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) Netball competition have today been confirmed, following a draw ceremony held at Surfers Paradise beach.

Overseen and sanctioned by the International Netball Federation (INF), today’s draw ceremony saw the bottom six ranked teams randomly drawn into two pools in order to determine the match schedule for the preliminary round-robin stage of the competition.

They join the top six ranked teams who were placed into the two pools in a snaking pattern, according to the INF World Ranking list as of 1 July, 2017.

Each team will play every other team within their pool during the preliminary round matches which will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 5-12 April, before culminating in the finals matches at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre on 14-15 April, 2018.

The two pools determined today are listed below:

POOL A

POOL B

1 Australia

2 New Zealand

4 Jamaica

3 England

5 South Africa

6 Malawi

8 Barbados

7 Wales

9 Fiji

10 Scotland

12 Northern Ireland

11 Uganda

Pool A features matches between top-ranked host nation Australia, Jamaica, South Africa, Barbados, Fiji and Northern Ireland during the preliminary rounds.

Pool B will see matches between New Zealand, England, crowd pleasers Malawi, Wales, Scotland and Uganda.

The full draw is available here or see attached PDF: https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/gc2018-website/Netball-Schedule_16082017v2.pdf

Uganda have already emerged as one of the early fairytale stories of GC2018 after qualifying for the Netball competition at the Commonwealth Games for the first time.

Uganda leapt from 13th to ninth in the recent INF World Ranking List after defeating Malawi to win this year’s Africa Netball Cup.

Each team will comprise a maximum of 12 athletes, with a total of 144 athletes participating in the Netball competition.

Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) President Louise Martin CBE:

"Today’s release of the draw has reaffirmed our belief that the GC2018 Netball competition will be a firm favourite with fans and broadcasters.

"The quality and depth of competition is at its highest ever thanks to the tireless work of the INF to develop and promote the sport and its athletes.

"I’m delighted to see such diversity of representation from across the Commonwealth and look forward to cheering on the teams in a thrilling tournament in April 2018."

GOLDOC CEO Mark Peters:

"With the match schedule and pools now confirmed, excitement is certainly building ahead of the GC2018 Netball competition.

"We have already seen strong public demand for tickets to both the GC2018 Netball preliminaries and finals and today’s draw ceremony provides spectators with further detail about which nations they are going to be cheering on in April 2018.

"Featuring the top-12 ranked teams in the world, we know that spectators are going to witness an outstanding level of competition during the GC2018 netball competition.

International Netball Federation President, the Hon. Molly Rhone OJ, CD:

"We are confident that the GC2018 Netball Competition is going to be a fantastic showcase for our sport and a thrilling world class event, and now that the draw has taken place, excitement and anticipation is really mounting.

"We look forward to seeing our amazing athletes take to the court in April, to winning new friends for our sport, and to the success we know this competition will be for netball."

Commonwealth Games Minister Kate Jones:

"Today’s Netball draw is another exciting milestone for the Games with just 231 days to go before we stage one of Queensland’s greatest success stories.

"Netball is up there as one of the highlights of the Games’ sporting competition and the Gold Coast is the perfect backdrop for a sport that will be beamed to a global television audience of 1.5 billion.

"The level of exposure will be priceless. Through the Games legacy, the Gold Coast will achieve a rolled gold status as a host city for major international events.

"The $1.5 billion being invested by our government in the Games will achieve a lasting legacy with better transport links and world-class sporting venues long after the Games.

"The Gold Coast is entering an exciting new era because of the Games and I’m proud to be playing an active role in ensuring the legacy will benefit future generations."

GC2018 Ambassador and Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Laura Geitz:

"It’s really exciting to know the nations we will be taking on during the preliminary matches.

"There is going to be some tough competition during the preliminaries with the likes of Glasgow 2014 bronze medallists Jamaica and South Africa in our pool.

"I know everyone involved in Australian netball is looking forward to the prospect of defending our gold medal on our home court."

For more information, please contact:

Email media@goldoc.com

Adam Gardini: +61 402 487 575

Communications and Media Lead

Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC)

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