2009 World Netball Series

2009 World Netball Series
Tournament details
Host country	England
Dates	9–11 October 2009
Teams	6
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand
Runner-up	Jamaica
	2010 →

The 2009 World Netball Series was the inaugural tournament of the World Netball Series. The 2009 Series was held at MEN Arena in Manchester, England from 9–11 October, and was the first major trial of the new FastNet rules that were announced by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) in 2008. New Zealand won the 2009 tournament with a 32–27 victory over Jamaica in the gold medal playoff.^[1]

Organisation

The 2009 World Netball Series was played under FastNet rules, which were designed to make games faster and more television-friendly, with the ultimate aim of raising the sport's profile and attracting more spectators and greater sponsorship.^[2]^[3]^[4] Netball is now following in the footsteps of cricket and rugby in providing a shorter version of the game to appease existing netball fans and grab the attention of new ones.^[5]^[4] Retrieved 5 April 2010. It was organised by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA), in conjunction with the national governing bodies of the six competing nations, as well as the Manchester City Council, England Netball, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and UK Sport.^[6] The Manchester City Council and UK Sport also contributed funding for the inaugural tournament.^[7] The Co-operative Group were announced as title sponsors for the 2009 Series.^[8]

Television rights

The 2009 World Netball Series was telecast in Australia by Network Ten; in Jamaica by Television Jamaica;^[9] in New Zealand by TV ONE; and in the United Kingdom by Sky Sports.

Teams

The six teams featuring in the 2009 Series were chosen at the end of 2008 from the top six nations of the IFNA World Rankings at that time. These teams were (in descending order of ranking): Australia, New Zealand, England, Jamaica, Malawi and Samoa. Team rosters were announced prior to the start of the tournament. Samoa confirmed their participation at the tournament a few days after their country was devastated in the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami.^[10]

Participating teams and rosters^[11]
Australia	New Zealand	England	Jamaica	Malawi	Samoa
Kate Beveridge Rebecca Bulley Bianca Chatfield Catherine Cox Johannah Curran Susan Fuhrmann Kimberlee Green Renae Hallinan Natalie Medhurst Lauren Nourse Susan Pratley Natalie von Bertouch Coach: Norma Plummer	Liana Leota Temepara George Katrina Grant Paula Griffin Joline Henry Laura Langman Wendy Frew Anna Thompson Maria Tutaia Irene van Dyk Larrissa Willcox Casey Williams Coach: Ruth Aitken	Karen Atkinson Sara Bayman Eboni Beckford-Chambers Jade Clarke Rachel Dunn Pamela Cookey Stacey Francis Tamsin Greenway Serena Guthrie Jo Harten Geva Mentor Sonia Mkoloma Coach: Sue Hawkins	Nicole Aiken Romelda Aiken Nadine Bryan Simone Forbes Nichala Gibson Crystal Gordon Nardia Hanson Sasher-Gaye Henry Malysha Kelly Sasha-Gay Lynch Tracy-Ann Robinson Paula Thompson Coach: Connie Francis	Merenia Gedion Peace Kaluwa Tina Kamzati Mwayi Kumwenda Linda Magombo Sylvia Malenga Emma Mdzagada Beatrice Mpinganjira Caroline Mtukule Grace Mwafulirwa Esther Nkhoma Mary Waya Coach: Edith Kaliati	Shirin Chang Lee Edwards Malu Faasavalu Monica Fuimaono Samantha Lewis Lesley Simone Frances Solia Geraldine Solia Sose Tavae Italia Tipelu Ida Vaai Brooke Williams Coach: Linda Vagana

Format

The tournament comprised 20 matches played over three days from 9–11 October. Each team played each other once during the first two days in a round-robin format. The four highest-ranked teams from this stage progressed to the finals, played on the final day of competition, in which the 1st-ranked team played the 4th-ranked team, while 2nd played 3rd. The winners of these two matches then contested the Grand Final; the remaining teams contested the third- and fifth-place playoffs.^[4]

Fixtures

Friday 9 October
Game	Time (GMT)	Match			Result
1	2:40 pm	Samoa	v	England	16–36
2	3:25 pm	Australia	v	Jamaica	31–26
3	4:10 pm	New Zealand	v	Malawi	27–22
4	6:35 pm	England	v	New Zealand	24–21
5	7:20 pm	Samoa	v	Jamaica	22–30
6	8:05 pm	Malawi	v	Australia	19–31
7	8:50 pm	Jamaica	v	New Zealand	28–37

Saturday 10 October
Game	Time (GMT)	Match			Result
8	10:05 am	Australia	v	New Zealand	25–22
9	10:50 am	Malawi	v	Samoa	33–16
10	11:35 am	Jamaica	v	England	24–27
11	12:20 pm	Australia	v	Samoa	37–18
12	2:35 pm	Malawi	v	England	22–33
13	3:20 pm	Samoa	v	New Zealand	14–34
14	4:05 pm	Malawi	v	Jamaica	25–30
15	4:50 pm	England	v	Australia	25–19

Finals

Sunday 11 October
Game	Time (GMT)	Match			Result
16	1:05 pm	England	v	Jamaica	22–33
17	1:50 pm	Australia	v	New Zealand	17–27
18	2:35 pm	Malawi	v	Samoa	28–20
19	3:20 pm	England	v	Australia	18–23
20	4:05 pm	Jamaica	v	New Zealand	27–32

Final placings

Place	Nation
	New Zealand
	Jamaica
	Australia
4	England
5	Malawi
6	Samoa

2009 World Series champions
New Zealand 1st title

References

^ "Silver Ferns win World Series". The New Zealand Herald. 12 October 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
^ "Rhone excited about World Netball Series". The Jamaica Star (online). 12 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
^ Irvine, Mairi (12 January 2009). "New Style Netball to be Held in the UK". UK Sport. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Calling All Netball Fans!". IFNA. 3 April 2009. Archived from the original on 14 March 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
^ Medhurst, Natalie (5 February 2009). "World Netball Series may fizz without crowd support". The Roar. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
^ "Netball as never seen before". IFNA. 14 January 2009. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
^ "Innovative World Series planned for next year". The New Zealand Herald. 2 December 2008. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
^ Benammar, Emily (24 April 2009). "World Netball Series secures sponsorship deal with Co-operative Group". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
^ "Sunshine Girls begin Fastnet campaign". Radio Jamaica. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Samoa will play in World Netball Series". TVNZ (online). 3 October 2009. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
^ England Netball (8 October 2009). "Teams named for World Netball Series". Retrieved 9 October 2009. ^{[dead link]}