Samoa overturned the world rankings as they defeated the Fi­jian Pearls 54-43 to finish top of the Oceania Netball World Cup 2019 regional qualifier in Auckland.

This is despite both teams had already secured the two places for next year’s Net­ball World Cup in Liverpool, England.

It was a horrific display by the Fijians against a young Samoan side who mainly comprised of players based in Australia and New Zea­land.

The Samoans met before the tournament but showed cohesion in their final match. The loss could mean a drop in Fiji’s 12th rank­ings since the Samoans are ranked at 15.

Fiji, the only one of the five sides contesting this event to have played at the Com­monwealth Games earlier this month, needed only to have drawn to have retained their top billing, given their superior goal difference.

But Samoa, who will now be competing at their eighth consecutive Netball World Cup from July 12-21, next year, never let them settled down.

–Edited by Leone Ca­benatabua

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