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NETBALL – THE Bahrain Pearls netball team will be facing off with a number of top teams from across the continent when they make their international debut in the 13th Asian Netball Championships 2024 starting later this week.
The 14-nation women’s tournament is scheduled to get underway on Friday in Bengaluru, India, and will continue until October 27. Matches will be held at Koramangala Indoor Stadium.
The kingdom’s representatives are in Group B for the competition’s preliminary round alongside Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, and Iraq.
Group A is composed of defending champions Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Maldives, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and hosts India.
Following a single round-robin, the top two from each pool will advance to the semi-finals, while the remaining squads, depending on their group classification, will play final ranking games to determine fifth through 14th.
The semis and initial placement games are scheduled for October 26, to be followed by the gold and bronze medal matches, along with the final classification contests, on the tournament’s concluding day on October 27.
The championships’ closing ceremony will be held directly after the final.
The Pearls are scheduled to open their campaign on the tournament’s second day of action after having a bye on day one. They will be facing Chinese Taipei in that Saturday morning affair.
The Bahrain representatives will then take on Singapore on Sunday before facing off with Thailand on Monday next week. Their following two assignments will be against Hong Kong and Brunei on Tuesday and Wednesday, after which there will be a rest day on Thursday.
Their last Group B game will be against Iraq on October 25.
The Pearls are scheduled to depart for Bengaluru tomorrow.
The kingdom’s squad includes skipper Stacey Clarke, vice-captains Claire Van Minnen and Amani Al Asfoor, Bahrain Netball director Khulood Sabah, Danet Leite, Monique Juter, Jeannine Wessels, Sara Kerr, Martine Timmer-Errands, Verity Ball, Lauren Alexandra Lee, Ellen Pearce, and Naomi Gay.
Their head coach is Maggie Testola and assistant coach is Jo Reed.
The Pearls played a tune-up game last weekend against the Evolutions Sports Qatar Netball squad as part of their final preparations for the Asian competition.
Bahrain are competing internationally for the first time ever after Bahrain Netball was last year awarded an association status under Asia Netball, the lead World Netball agency for the continental game.
The previous edition of the continental championship took place in 2022 in Singapore, with 11 teams taking part and Sri Lanka claiming the title.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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