The game against England will determine who finishes top of Pool D

The Baby Pearls are through to the quarterfinals of the Netball World Youth Cup in Botswana after thrashing Grenada 74-23 in their third pool match yesterday.

Fiji will now take on England in their last tomorrow and Coach Vicki Wilson applauded their fluency on attack.

“Exciting times for the girls but I was particularly pleased that we were able to score that many goals,” she said.

“Because that’s been an area that we’ve tried to address over the last few months, trying to keep possession and keep the goal-rate ticking over.”

The Baby Pearls beat Trinidad and Tobago 58-28 and Wales 48-35.

The game against England will determine who finishes top of Pool D.

Wilson said it would be another big step up for her young team.

“England is a very slick side.

“They’re pretty sharp with their movement, their ball placement and they can run out a game and that’s the challenge – just being able to stick to that consistency and make some good decisions under pressure.”

Depending on the outcome of the England match, Fiji could face Uganda, Botswana and Jamaica in the quarter-finals.

“It doesn’t matter who we play – I’ve been watching very closely Uganda, Botswana and Jamaica and all of them are all very tough.

“So either one would be tough. Botswana will probably be very tough because you’re playing here in front of their home crowd and they are just so loud, but first things first, we need to focus  on England.”

Meanwhile, Samoa kept alive their playoff hopes with a 73-49 demolition of Sri Lanka to make it back-to-back wins.

New Zealand is unbeaten at the top of Pool A with the winner of tomorrow’s match between Samoa and Scotland to join them in the knockout rounds.

The Cook Islands playoff hopes are over after they slumped to a third straight defeat in Botswana, beaten 52-39 by Uganda.

Edited by Osea Bola

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