World Netball Rankings: Uganda climbs to 9th place

NETBALL | WORLD RANKINGS

Days after winning the Africa Netball Championship in Kampala, Uganda has shot up to 9th place from 13th in the World Netball Rankings released on Tuesday.

But what is even better is that the She Cranes have subsequently qualified for next year's Commonwealth Games following their dramatic rise in the International Netball Federation rankings.

The top 12-ranked netball countries in the world automatically qualify for the Commonwealth Games.

The tenacious Ugandan team will be returning to Australia for the Commonwealth Games two years after the Sydney Netball World Cup where they finished eighth overall.

The Commonwealth Games are scheduled for April 4-15, 2018 in Gold Coast, Queensland in Australia.

She Cranes proved too strong for their opponents in the recently concluded Africa Netball Championship on home soil

She Cranes team manager Jocelyn Ucanda was quoted as saying, "It is a huge achievement, and that really puts us in the thick of things. We are now among the crème de la crème and joining the elite [netball nations] in the world."

The She Cranes went into the Africa Netball Championship last week as contenders and they emerged unscathed after drowning out all their rivals.

Malawi (6th) and South Africa (5th) are the only African teams ranked above Uganda. World and Commonwealth champions Australia top the rankings followed by New Zealand and England.

Current World Netball Rankings (top 20)

1.   Australia
2.   New Zealand
3.   England
4.   Jamica
5.   South Africa
6.   Malawi
7.   Fiji
8.   Wales
9.   Uganda
10. Northern Ireland
11. Barbados
12. Scotland
13. Trinidad & Tobago
14. Samoa
15. Zambia
16. Zimbabwe
17. Papua New Guinea
18. Singapore
19. St. Lucia
20. Botswana

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