Australia claims its 1000th medal at the Commonwealth Games as the women’s netball team take out an incredible win over Jamaica
- Australia win 1,000th Commonwealth Games medal after winning netball
- Diamonds held on to beat Jamaica by four goals in thrilling final
- Victory comes just three days after Jamaica beat Australia
Australia’s Diamonds have taken out the country’s 1000th gold medal at the games, stripping the smiles from Jamaica’s ‘Sunshine Girls’ as their revenge triumph earned Commonwealth Games gold.
Stacey Marinkovich’s team managed to defuse the threat of the world’s best player Jhaniele Fowler as they prevailed 55-51 at the National Exhibition Centre Arena in a thrilling final on Sunday.
Three days after they’d let a four-quarter, six-point lead slip against the Fowler-inspired side and in the teeth of shrill, noisy support for the underdog Jamaicans, the Diamonds, as has become familiar, were not about to slip up twice.
Australia’s Diamonds have regained their Commonwealth Games netball crown, earning revenge over Jamaica 55-51 in the final
The Diamonds secured Australia’s 1000th gold medal of the Commonwealth Games with a win over their rivals
Gretel Bueta, with a perfect 37 goals from 37 attempts, combined superbly with Cara Koenen (11 from 11) up front while Courtney Bruce led the Diamonds’ fine defensive effort.
This was their fourth Commonwealth title to go with 11 World Cups and six Quad Series wins, re-establishing them as one of global sport’s dominant teams.
The Australians had begun impressively, suffocating the Jamaicans in defence to open up a six-goal lead and they were still up 14-12 at the end of the quarter.
But the complexion quickly changed with Fowler the focal point of the quicker transitions as they moved four points clear, prompting Marinkovich to introduce Sarah Klau as goalkeeper to quell the dominance of the superstar Jamaican shooter, who was owning Courtney Bruce.
Jamaica had beaten Australia just three days earlier but the Diamonds shut down the world’s best player Jhaniele Fowler to exact revenge
It was the Aussies’ turn to fight back and take the high-quality match into the halftime break at 29-29.
But the Diamonds blasted out after the break, with Bruce, by now playing a dominant role at goal defence, pumping her fist at an early turnover which prompted a run of seven straight Australian points.
The lead increased to 10 before the Jamaicans pulled it back to six going into the final quarter – ominously for the Aussies, the same deficit they had in Thursday’s match.
This time, though, they were not about to let it slip, although there were a few nerves when the deficit was briefly reduced to just three with the brilliant Fowler ending with 46 goals from 47 attempts.