Trinidad and Tobago defeated Barbados 53-46 tonight to win the Americas Federation of Netball Association Championships in Alberta, Canada.
Both teams have qualified for next year’s Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia, with Trinidad having the better ranking for the upcoming draw.
Barbados made a disastrous start, trailing 5-0 before scoring their first goal. Plagued by turnovers all night, they battled back from 16-10 at the end of the first quarter and 27-23 at half-time to tie the game at 32.
But Barbados were outscored 21-14 as the match drew to a close. Trinidad took the lead 39-34 and went ahead by as many as ten.
Turnovers continued to be a problem for both sides, but Trinidad and Tobago seemed to display superior fitness and ball movement, and their shooters were also more accurate.
No official shooting stats are available.
When the two teams met at the Commonwealth Games earlier this month, Trinidad and Tobago won 38-37.
United States edged Canada 42-40 to take third place, while Grenada beat Argentina 70-39 in the other match played today. (SAT)
