Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
JAMAICA'S UNDER-21 Sunshine Girls made good the start of the second round of the World Youth Netball Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, yesterday with a 61-21 victory over Botswana at the Broward County Convention Centre.
Botswana played well in a game in which they weren't expected to pose too many problems and kept the Jamaicans to just 15 first-quarter goals although they were themselves restricted to just four.
SECOND-QUARTER CHALLENGE
The Joan Cargill-coached Jamaicans also laboured a little in the second quarter in which the Botswanans got to 11 while the Jamaicans advanced to 28.
In the third quarter, the Jamaicans turned up the pressure and jumped to a 48-15 lead which set the stage for a comfortable victory.
Today, the Jamaicans will take on what should be the biggest challenge of the second round for them, as they go head to head with Malaysia.
The Malaysians were second in Pool A behind Australia but were dismantled when they played against the World No. 1 ranked team which suggests they should not be too much of a problem.
However, stranger things have happened and Malaysia, with good results against other Caribbean teams in the tournament, should be confident.
In the day's other games, St. Lucia play Bermuda in the developmental group for the teams that failed to make it to the second round, Trinidad and Tobago play Botswana, Antigua and Barbuda play Barbados, Wales play Fiji, New Zealand play West Samoa, Cook Islands play the United States, England play Northern Ireland, Canada play Scotland and, in the feature game of the day, the South Africans go up against the might of Australia.
In some of the other games played yesterday, Australia beat Fiji 76-23, New Zealand thrashed hosts U.S. 95-10 and England trounced Scotland 60-13.
