Netball: Sunshine girls' big challenge

By JULIE ASH in Kingston

Jamaica will just about come to a standstill today when their beloved sunshine girls take on Australia in one of the most anticipated matches of the world championships.

Pooled alongside each other, the winner of the match will finish top of the group and have an easier run to the final, lining up against either the Cook Islands or Barbados in Saturday's quarter-finals and then England in the semifinals.

The loser will face a similarly easy quarter-final match - most likely against Fiji - but will then have to line up against New Zealand in the semifinals.

"Everybody wants us to win. Everybody wants us to beat the world champions," said Jamaican goal shoot Elaine Davis, who played a season for the Auckland Diamonds in the 2000 national league.

"But Australia are going to be very tough. They are strong throughout the court, they are very fast and they have very good shooters."

Throughout the competition Australia and Jamaica have racked up similar scores in their pool matches.

Australia beat the United States 84-28, Samoa 76-27, Trinidad and Tobago 80-28 and yesterday South Africa 64-37.

Jamaica beat Trinidad and Tobago 89-30, South Africa 54-33, Samoa 84-24 and the US 85-20.

Although Australia have strength throughout the court and on the bench, Jamaica will go into the match with some confidence, having beaten Australia in a match in Jamaica this year.

With their tall, lean shooters, Carla Williams and Simone Forbes and a speedy midcourt who have adopted Australia's one-handed style of passing - not to mention their feisty defence - Australia have plenty to fear.

"We are pretty happy with where we are at, but like most teams here we want to get better, as we know we have got some really tough games ahead," Davis said.

And as for that raucous crowd support, Davis is expecting them to be in full swing today.

"It is great," she said. "It is really nice to have them supporting us, although they do make it hard for us to hear each other and the umpire sometimes."