This marked the tournament's 60th anniversary, as it was founded in 1963.
Sixteen nations contested for the title and after two group stage rounds; England, Jamaica, Australia and New Zealand all made it to the semi-finals, with England qualifying for the final for the first time. Australia would take home their 12th title after defeating England 61–45. Jamaica finished in third place, after defeating New Zealand. Host nation South Africa finished sixth overall.[4]
Organisation
The host city and venue was announced by the International Netball Federation (INF) on 8 March 2019, only months prior to the staging of the 2019 edition in Liverpool, England. Cape Town's bid, supported by the South African Government and the Western Cape province, was selected by the INF ahead of a bid by Auckland, New Zealand.[5] The INF stated the Cape Town bid would "deliver a greater impact on the development of global netball" and cited the pledges by the South African Government to invest heavily in preparation and development of the sport in the lead-up to the tournament.[3][6]
In August 2022, the mascot was revealed for the tournament following a public competition.[7][8] Designed by 11-year-old Violet Cassidy from Manchester, England; the mascot is an anthropomorphic meerkat named Letsasi, meaning "sun."[7][9]
Broadcasters
This is a list of the broadcasters for the tournament in competing countries and regions. For the first time in history, the event was recorded and produced by an all women crew from SuperSport (MultiChoice).[10]
All other countries not listed below are able to subscribe to NetballPass to watch the tournament.[11]
Sixteen teams contested the 2023 title.[22] Six teams qualified automatically: the hosts, and the top five (other) teams in the World Netball Rankings.[23] The remaining ten places were filled via five regional tournaments, with two teams qualifying from each.[23]
Teams which qualified automatically (in order of world ranking):[23]
The sixteen competing nations selected 12-player squads for the tournament, with three additional reserve players named. Reserve players would be permanent replacements in the event of injury.[36]
The format of the competition was the same as that introduced for the 2019 Netball World Cup. Teams competed in three stages; the Preliminaries Stage One (28–30 July), Preliminaries Stage Two (31 July–3 August) and the Play-offs and Placings matches (4–6 August).[37]
Preliminaries Stage One
There were four groups (A, B, C and D) of four teams in the first stage, with the top eight teams pre-assigned to their groups and one team from the 9th–12th seeds and one from the 13th–16th seeds drawn randomly into each group. No more than two teams from the one region can be drawn into the same group. The top three teams from each group progressed to the second preliminaries stage.[37]
Preliminaries Stage Two
The top three teams from Groups A and B formed Group F, and the top three teams from Groups C and D formed Group G. The bottom four finishers from Groups A-D competed against one another in Group E. Where teams in Groups F and G have already played each other in the Preliminaries Stage One (i.e. A1 has already played A2 and A3), these results will carry through to the Preliminaries Stage Two.[37]
Play-offs and Placings
The teams finishing first and second in Groups F and G went through to the semi-finals, with the top placed team in each group facing the second placed team in the other group. The winners of each semi-final competed for gold in the final, with the losers playing for bronze.[37]
The teams finishing third and fourth in Groups F and G competed for final positions fifth to eighth – third in one group plays fourth in the other – with the winners playing off for fifth place and the losers for seventh. The teams that finished fifth in Groups F and G played off for ninth and 10th places. The teams that finished last in Groups F and G played off for 11th and 12th places. The teams that finished first and second in Group E played off for 13th and 14th place and the teams that finish third and fourth in Group E played off for the 15th and 16th places.[37]
The top three teams from Groups A and B advance to Group F. All six teams previously played two matches against Group F teams – for example, each team in Group A played the two other Group A teams who advanced to Group F. At the start of Group F the table is initialised to include the results of these two Group A or Group B matches for each team. The former Group A teams play the former Group B teams in three rounds of three matches in Group F.[37]
Teams finishing first and second in Group F go through to the semi-finals – the top team in Group F plays the second team in Group G and the second team in Group F plays the top team in Group G. The four remaining teams in Group F compete for the final placings from 5th to 12th.
The top three teams from Groups C and D advance to Group G. All six teams previously played two matches against Group G teams – for example, each team in Group C played the two other Group C teams who advanced to Group G. At the start of Group G the table is initialised to include the results of these two Group C or Group D matches for each team. The former Group C teams play the former Group D teams in three rounds of three matches in Group G.[37]
Teams finishing first and second in Group G go through to the semi-finals – the top team in Group G plays the second team in Group F and the second team in Group G plays the top team in Group F. The four remaining teams in Group G compete for the final placings from 5th to 12th.
England finished top of Group F after the preliminary stages, defeating Australia 56–55 in their match, the first time that England had ever defeated Australia in the tournament. The Roses overcoming an eight-goal deficit in the third quarter to take a one goal win 56–55.[40][41] Both teams had already qualified for the semi-final stage of the tournament.
In Group G, Jamaica pulled away from New Zealand to win 59–48, with both teams progressing through to semi-finals despite the loss for New Zealand.[41]
As group winners, England faced five-time champions New Zealand, with Jamaica playing 11-time champions Australia.[41][42]
Defending champions New Zealand, looking to become the first Silver Ferns team to win consecutive tournaments, kept their semi final match against England tight in the first three quarters. The teams were tied at 32–all at three-quarter-time, but a dominant final quarter from England saw them take a 46–40 victory to progress to the final for the first time.[43]
In the other semi final, Australia outlasted Jamaica in a see-sawing match. A dominant display from Diamonds vice-captain Steph Wood in the goal circle (scoring 29 goals from 32 attempts) helping Australia reach their ninth-straight final appearance.[44] Australia's goal keeper Courtney Bruce earning player of the match honours for her ability to disrupt the efforts of the Sunshine Girls attacking duo of Jhaniele Fowler and Shanice Beckford.[45]
In the bronze medal match, Jamaica took a three-goal lead into half time against New Zealand. Plagued by turnovers, Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua changed New Zealand's starting shooting circle combination of Maia Wilson and Ameliaranne Ekenasio for Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Tiana Metuarau after half time, but with Jamaica extending that lead in the third quarter to as much as eight goals, Wilson and Ekenasio returned again. Sunshine Girls shooter Jhaniele Fowler scored 43 goals from 44 attempts, while Jodi-Ann Ward was announced as the player of the match as Jamaica secured the bronze medal.[46][47]
For New Zealand, it was the first time that they had finished the tournament without a medal placing finish.[43][46]
Australia would enter the final as slight underdogs, after losing to England in the group phase. The Roses led by shooters Eleanor Cardwell and player of the tournament Helen Housby, would be met by ruthless defence in the gold medal match, with the Diamonds defenders pressuring their opponents into errors. Kiera Austin won the player of the final award, after entering the match in the second quarter.[48] Austin and fellow shooter Sophie Garbin sparking a surge from Australia through the second and third quarters, with the Roses unable to go with the Diamonds.[49][50][51]
Australia won the final 61–45 to claim their 12th Netball World Cup title, with the Diamonds adding to their 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal victory.[52]
^"Diamonds World Cup team revealed". diamonds.netball.com.au. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023. Under new World Netball rules, the three reserve players can be promoted into the playing list of 12 as permanent replacement players. Once a player in the playing list has been permanently replaced, they cannot return to play in the tournament.
South Africa
Australia (12th title)
England
Jamaica
