Sunshine Girls eyeing No. 2 world ranking spot

President of Netball Jamaica (NJ) Tricia Robinson said the Sunshine Girls are now within striking distance of moving up to second in the International Netball Federation (INF) world ranking, following the latest rating which was released earlier this month.

The Sunshine Girls are fourth in the world with a rating of 175, the same as third-place England, who they will meet in a four-match Test series next month in London, England.

World champions New Zealand are second in the world with a rating of 182, while Australia is ranked number one in the world with 205 rating points. A victory in the series for the Sunshine Girls will result in them leapfrogging the English girls in the rankings.

Robinson told STAR Sports hat the girls are well aware of the latest ranking and therefore they are very focused on doing well against England.

"New Zealand is within striking distance of us and we are very aware of that, because our intention is to be number one in the world, and for us to be number one in the world, we have to create that path starting with this series," said Robinson.

"However, it is a step-by-step process and we want to move up to second, and from there we will make the nether step towards number one, because I am confident that we can get the job done against England in this series,' she said.

The Sunshine Girls achieved their highest-ever ranking at number two in the world last year, a month before Netball World Cup tournament in Liverpool, England.

Great opportunity

Robinson underscored that the series presents a great opportunity to build towards the Commonwealth Games as well as Netball World Cup in 2023.

She further stated that despite the COVID 19 pandemic, the Sunshine Girls have done well in their preparations for the highly anticipated series.

"Every opportunity that we get to play as a unit is very important for us because we are not able to play as often as the other teams, and so games that we play, we have to ensure that we do well in them to maintain our rankings," she said.

"There is always room for improvement, but one thing with our girls is that they always give their best shot, and I do believe that they are mentally and physically ready for January. They know what it takes to perform at their best," she said.