Girls shaping up to be real contenders - Francis

FOLLOWING convincing wins in its two opening matches, Jamaica's coach, Connie Francis, says the Sunshine Girls are shaping up to be real contenders for the World Netball Championship title in the tournament being played in Auckland, New Zealand.

The Sunshine Girls, who are ranked number three in the world and qualified for the quarter-finals by virtue of the wins, trounced Cook Islands 71-29 in their opening game on Sunday and in their second match yesterday, thrashed Fiji 78-35.

Top scorers

Captain Elaine Davis and Simone Forbes led the scoring with 28 points apiece, Davis from 30 tries and Forbes from 34 attempts. Romelda Aiken completed the scoring with a near-perfect 22 from 23.

For Fiji, Matelita Shaw shot 6/8, Taraima Rara 11/17, Maria Bereso 11/14 and Laniana Tuisasa 7/11.

Romelda Aiken was again impressive in leading the scoring, Commenting after their win over Fiji, Francis said: "I am very satisfied because most of the players are peaking at the right time, especially Kasey Evering. I have a lot of praise for her and what she has brought to our game down here."

Francis, a former star shooter for Jamaica, added: "Simone Forbes and Nadine Bryan ware also fantastic during our first two opening games. However, all the other girls are also doing their job and they are growing as the days go on."

Different team

She added that despite the team's two 0-2 series losses to New Zealand and Australia in July, many pundits at the tournament are now saying this looks like a different team.

"These girls that we have here have surely stood up to the challenge and they are ready for everybody because all the analysts are saying that Jamaica will be a real force to be reckoned with," she noted.

Francis says she has always been confident with this team, having been around them for a long time.

"I have seen them make leaps and bounds and they seem to be maturing and growing very strongly and we will be strong contenders for this championship."

She warned, however, that there is no room for complacency.

"There are still certain areas in which we need to improve because we are still having some players making simple errors on the court.