With silver in the bag, Gibraltar Netball aims for gold next

Gibraltar Netball’s Campions arrived in Gibraltar after a very successful Netball Europe Open Challenge Championship where they won silver.

The netball national squad had recorded four wins from six matches played in a tight four-day schedule.

Their victories included a triumph against 20th-ranked Republic of Ireland. Victories against Cayman Islands, Israel and the United Arab Emirates had set them up to challenge for gold, with only a narrow defeat against eventual winners and host Isle of Man denying them the title.

Captain Bryony Rovegno hoped her team had “inspired younger generations” and was positive about Gibraltar’s future in international netball, after a whirlwind season which had also seem them play in the Hong Kong Four Nations.

When asked about what next after their success in the Isle of Man, she confidently answered: “Go for gold, aim higher, we want to be ranked higher in the world.”

The squad - after just their first year since the introduction of the Performance Academy - was described by Gibraltar Netball president Moira Gomez as “having surpassed themselves in their expectations”.

Read sport on pages 18 and 19 for our full report on this weekend’s action in today's print or e-edition.

Pic by Stephen Ignacio