Jamaica claim comfortable victory over Uganda in Netball World Cup to keep pursuit of semi-final spot alive

Jamaica beat Uganda to keep their hopes of claiming a semi-final place alive ©NWC2015

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Jamaica boosted their chances of reaching the semi-finals of the Netball World Cup as they beat Uganda 59-47 at the Allphones Arena on the Olympic Park in Sydney.

The Sunshine Girls, beaten by New Zealand in their opening match of the second group phase, justified their position at number four in the world rankings with a confident display to set-up a semi-final qualification showdown with Malawi tomorrow.

The winner of that match will follow New Zealand into the last four and are likely to meet hosts and 10-times winners Australia.

Jamaica began brightly and managed to establish a first quarter lead of 16-12 and, although Uganda shaded the second, Jamacia had a narrow one-point advantage at half-time.

The third quarter proved to be the decisive one as Jamaica all-but ended narrow Ugandan hopes of springing a surprise, dominating to move 44-35 in front going into the final period.

They were then able to see out a commanding win which keeps their medal hopes alive and the result eliminates Uganda from the competition.

“I think we just had a really slow start and the Ugandans, they really brought it to us and we needed to step it up a little bit more,” Jamaica’s Romelda Aiken told the Herald Sun.

“They came out very physical, but we just need to stay strong and just play our game and not get caught up in whatever is happening out there.

“The trophy is up in the air at the moment, no-one is guaranteed the trophy.”

Jamaica's Romelda Aiken says the tournament is still wide open as the competition approaches its business end ©Getty Images

Elsewhere, Fiji topped Pool H thanks to a slender 48-42 victory over Scotland, which maintained their 100 per cent record in the classification stages.

Scotland, ranked at number 11 in the world, still secured second place in the group to ensure they enter the play-off placing round in confident form.

In the other match in the group, Sri Lanka’s woes continued as they were hammered 67-33 by Barbados.

The result prolongs the Sri Lankan side’s wait for a victory at the tournament, while Barbados picked up their first win in Pool H following defeats to both Scotland and Fiji.

Tomorrow is set to be a dramatic day as England take on South Africa for a place in the semi-finals, while Australia and New Zealand will both be looking to top their groups when they take on Wales and Uganda respectively.