This country's 'Calypso Girls' netballers will go into their final Second Eight final round Pool G match against Samoa at the Allphones Areena, Sydney Park, Syndney from 6.20 am today confident of a fourth straight win and in contention for ninth spot.
Having ended Pool A Round One play with a 1-2 record behind four-time champions New Zealand (3-0) and host and ten-time reigning champions Australia (2-1), the Joelisa Cooper-captained tenth ranked T&T women outclassed ninth ranked Barbados 55-39 for their first win on Sunday.
This was followed by victories over Zambia (66-39) and Singapore (75-32) in their first two Second Eighth Pool G matches on Tuesday and Wednesday to secure a top two finish in the pool along with today's opponent and certain of semifinal places for positions ninth to 12th.
Yesterday, goal shooters, Samantha Wallace and substitute Kalifa Mc Collin combined for 53 goals from 58 attempts as the 'Calypso Girls' notched up their fourth straight win against Singapore..
Singapore came into the match with one victory over Sri Lanka on the opening day of the tournament but were unable to challenge the Calypso Girls, with errors proving costly in the 43-goal loss.
Coach Ruth Aitken for Singapore said the difference in world rankings was clear as T&T is obviously a very athletic team.
He added, "We struggled to deal with that as well as we would have liked to, I think it showed the difference in world rankings at the moment but I was really pleased my girls kept going, we put all of our squad out there."
From the outset, T&T, champions in 1979 along with New Zealand and Australia was able to stamp their authority on the game and displayed tough defensive pressure right across the court with all but two of players offering up deflections in the first quarter.
Singaporean shooter Charmaine Soh proved an impressive long bomb shooter, while the Calypso Girls' shooter 21-year-old debutant Wallace (15/18) was also sinking some spectacular long shots and captain Joelisa Cooper (6/6) helping T&T to a 21-8 lead at quarter time.
The Calypso Girls' attack on the ball was much harder giving them a 24 point lead, 41-17, at half time.
T&T made wholesale changes at the start of the second half, with Wallace, Candice Guerrero, Kielle Connelly, and Daystar Swift being replaced while Singapore brought on Olivia Flanagan at wing defence, Pamela Liew at goal attack and re-introduced tall defender Li Li Chen at keeper.
Debutant McCollin who started the second half at goal attack for T&T had an impressive third quarter shooting 15/15, and missing just one goal for the match as the side continued to dominate all areas of the court, Calypso Girls leading 58-24 at three-quarter time.
Wallace led T&T with 27 goals from 31 attempts, the impressive Mc Collin added 26 from 27, Cooper tallied 14 from as many attempts, and Afeisha Noel, chipped in with eighth from ten.
Speaing ahead of today's pool decider with Samoa McCollin said she expects a tougher match as she thinks that Samoa is a little bit more physical than the other teams. So from the start we need to be physical with them and get the game going."
Veteran T&T player, centre court Rhonda John-Davis, who is the most capped player of the tournament with 153 Test Caps, and is appearing in her fifth World Cup, a record as well, continuously demonstrates her skills and experience midcourt and had 24 goal assists in the win to push her tournament leading tally to 76.
Looking ahead to the clash, John-Davis said: "The last time we played Samoa, we won by one... it's good to know we will be meeting them again and we can measure ourselves for the future."
Samoa has defeated Singapore 46-39 and Zambia 52-48.
In the other Second Eight Pool H qualifying matches, Fiji and Scotland both improved to 2-0 with victories over Barbados (48-37) and Sri Lanka (59-27).
And in the First Eight, Pool F, third ranked England swept aside Wales 78-33 for a 1-1 record while defending champions Australia humbled South Africa 66-31, and in Pool E, second ranked and four-time winners' New Zealand outplayed Malawi 57-49.
Fixtures
Today:
T&T vs Samoa, 6.20am
Jamaica vs Malawi, 10.20pm
Tomorrow
Singapore vs Zambia, 12.20am
England vs South Africa, 2.20am
New Zealand vs Uganda, 4.20am
Australia vs Wales, 6.20am