Netball Super League | Commonwealth Games: Classification closes with some top performances

The classification stage is officially over and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games fifth to 12th-place rankings have been decided.

The four matches saw some of the tightest games so far in the competition, with Scotland and Northern Ireland closing their first quarter 10-10 and a tense face-off between Uganda and South Africa for fifth-place.

With so much VNSL talent on show over the competition, here are the best of the best performances at the Games so far:

Shaquanda Greene-Noel – Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago finished their Commonwealth Games in 11th-place with a 63-31 victory over Barbados.

And leading her team in more ways than one, Greene-Noel has been a stalwart member of her squad these Games.

The defender has dominated the circle while keeping morale up on court after Trinidad and Tobago finished bottom of Pool B.

The Celtic Dragons player jumped to new heights and topped the standings in the most rebounds with a total of 24 over the whole competition.

Greene-Noel has carried on impressing by racking up a total of 360 minutes on court so far, too vital to take off for Trinidad and Tobago.

Who else is missing @QuandaNoel already?! 😭#B2022 | @celtic_dragons pic.twitter.com/5ba6qn2pKs

— Vitality Netball Superleague (@NetballSL) August 5, 2022

Ella Powell-Davies – Wales

Wales finished eighth after a hard-fought 62-56 loss to Malawi in the classification round.

Wasps player Powell-Davies shone for her team, piling on the pressure to help Wales produce two wins in Pool A over Scotland and Barbados.

In their 79-33 defeat against Australia, Powell-Davies acted as a motivator for her team, playing all four quarters of the game.

Against home nation Scotland, the vice-captain was pivotal in her team’s 48-42 win, their narrowest margin of victory in the competition so far.

Powell-Davies played the full game to claim two points for Wales in a match that importantly placed them one place above Scotland in Pool B.

Towera Vinkhumbo – Malwai

Vinkhumbo has produced some brilliant performances so far these Games, with a strong battle against fellow Vitality Netball Superleague player Mary Cholhok.

The Strathclyde Sirens defender played with supreme confidence against Uganda but was just unable to seal the deal for a third win.

Against England, Vinkhumbo was causing problems in the circle and managed to control Joanne Harten and Helen Housby to end the match 66-41 to the Roses.

Vinkhumbo has made a total of 29 gains in competition so far and doesn’t look to be stopping soon.

And her fabulous interception against Wales has been hailed the play of the competition after igniting her team to secure the win.

THIS TEAM🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❤️What a BEAUTIFUL display of netball and an amazing way to finish off our CWG journey😍 To everyone who supported from the stands and from home, THANK YOU! We have loved every second of this💜 #teamscot #b2022 #b2022netball

📸 @craigwatsonpix pic.twitter.com/U9Nnrbm8pn

— Scottish Thistles (@ScotThistles) August 5, 2022

Iona Christian – Scotland

Mid-courter Iona Christian has won plenty of plaudits for her performances for Scotland during the Games and rightly so.

Christian is second on the list of centre passes received as she has been the definition of ‘here if you need’.

In Scotland’s defeat to Wales, she was responsible for 16 goal assists as she played all 60 minutes of the intense battle.

Fifteen more came in the defeat of Barbados, while Christian has also been on hand for intercepts as Scotland have battled in all five of their group games.

Scotland produced an exciting 43-33 victory over Northern Ireland for ninth place at the Games.

Eleanor Cardwell – England

The claw has been front and centre this Commonwealth Games, as we expected from the offset.

Praised for adapting her play to suit the needs of teammates Housby and Harten, Cardwell has been the key to England’s attack so far.

The shooter has been in the top ten goals scored all competition, averaging over 90% accuracy a game, much like her season at Manchester Thunder.

In front of a home crowd, Cardwell has brought energy to the NEC Arena every time she steps onto the court, whipping up the fans as England earned victory over New Zealand to confirm their semi-final match-up against Australia tomorrow.

Classification day✅

We now know the placings of the teams finishing 5th-12th at #B2022🙌

🔜 Semi-finals tomorrow!

But, first here are today’s results👇#B2022 | #NetballFamily pic.twitter.com/N442oQG8C2

— World Netball (@WorldNetball_) August 5, 2022

Final classification rankings:
5th – Uganda
6th – South Africa
7th – Malawi
8th – Wales
9th – Scotland
10th – Northern Ireland
11th – Trinidad and Tobago
12th – Barbados