BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Oct 27, CMC — St. Vincent and the Grenadines are heading back to the Netball World Cup after 23 years, and they did it the hard way.
In a veritable 47th independence anniversary gift to the nation Monday night, the Vincy Jewels secured their place at next year’s World Cup in Sydney, Australia, with a dramatic 55-53 overtime victory over St. Lucia in Barbados.
The Vincy Jewels took the second available qualifying spot after a tense battle in which they were pushed through the first three quarters.
St. Lucia led 11-10 after the first quarter, but SVG fought back to lead 24-22 at half-time and 36-33 after three quarters.
However, the Piton Sparks took advantage of a lapse in the Jewels’ concentration to tie the game at 45 and force overtime.
After two seven-minute overtime periods, St. Vincent and the Grenadines prevailed 55-53 to seal qualification.
SVG finished the qualifying campaign with 18 points from seven games, winning six and losing one. St. Lucia ended on six points from their seven matches, with two wins and five losses.
Trinidad and Tobago, the other qualifier, completed the round unbeaten with a 60-51 victory over Barbados.
The Calypso Girls topped the table with a maximum 21 points from seven games. Barbados finished fourth with 12 points, winning four and losing three.
Earlier, the USA defeated the BVI 80-06 to end their campaign in third place on 15 points from five wins and two losses. The BVI lost all seven matches and finished at the bottom of the standings on zero points.
Canada closed their 2026 qualifying campaign in fifth place with a 42-40 defeat of Grenada in their seventh match.
The Canadians ended with three wins and four losses for nine points, while Grenada had three points from one win in seven games.
For St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the qualification ends a long absence from netball’s biggest stage.
SVG made their Netball World Cup Final debut at the 1979 World Netball Championships in Trinidad and Tobago.
In 1995, the Vincentians achieved their highest-ever World Cup finish of 10th place in England, and they finished 13th at the 2003 World Netball Championships in Jamaica. That was followed by a 23-year drought until Monday night’s historic finish.
Adding to the sweetness of qualification, Vincy Jewels goal-shooter Mary-Ann Frederick was judged the Most Accurate Goal-shooter with 95.25% shooting accuracy.
Frederick scored 341 goals from 358 attempts and was also named the tournament’s most valuable player.
CMC la/26