Withdrawal of Zambia sees Gibraltar officials checking impact on their prospects

Sunday’s announcement by World Netball that both Sri Lanka and Zambia were being withdrawn from the Netball World Youth Cup 2025 due to non-appearance has left some question from teams affected.
With Gibraltar grouped in the same pool as Zambia, Gibraltar will receive an unexpected two points and is certain now to finish fourth in the group.
Whilst many would consider this a positive Gibraltar team officials have today been discussing the impact of this as Gibraltar now faces the prospect of playing higher ranked teams than expected in the next round.
Although any scheduled changes have as yet not been announced, if any. Gibraltar finishing fourth in their group under the original schedule would have played teams also ranked fourth in other groups.
Something which Gibraltar had not expected. A tougher round of matches could see Gibraltar paired against sides such as Northern Ireland who currently sit fourth in their group rather than Singapore. Although the prospect of either is still as daunting as the next with all sides having qualified through their regional qualifiers to reach the competition.
The one thing that both players and team officials have pointed out is that Zambia’s departure has only been welcomed because of the small break the players get today which allows them to regroup after a challenging debut in the competition. However, players and coaches have quietly indicated they would have preferred to play, even though Zambia was among the stronger sides drawn into their group alongside New Zealand. Gibraltar already having felt the strengths of both Cook Islands and Malaysia in their first two matches.
Netball World Youth Cup organisers have not made any changes to the original schedule as of yet, with the unprecedented situation of two teams withdrawn impacting on the next stage of matches.