�Ӱ��԰�

Jamaica's Sunshine Girls will be hoping for better results at the eighth edition of the Fast5 World Series in New Zealand after a disappointing sixth-place finish last year, when they failed to win any of their matches.

The tournament starts tomorrow, with the Sunshine Girls being among the six countries involved and playing their opening match against defending champions Australia at 6:30 p.m. (Jamaica time) inside the Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch.

The Sunshine Girls will contest two other matches on the opening day, as at 9 p.m. (Jamaica time) they will take on Malawi, and close out the day at 12:45 a.m. (Jamaica time) on Saturday, when they go up against South Africa.

On day two, Jamaica play their two remaining matches of the first round. On Saturday at 6 p.m. (Jamaica time), they will go up against England, before closing out at 9:45 p.m. against hosts and five-time winners of the competition, New Zealand.

Sunshine Girls co-coach Shawn Murdock, who shares duties with Nicole Aiken-Pinnock, is cautious going into the championships, although expressing pleasure at what has happened since they arrived in New Zealand.

"We have had three training sessions since the team arrived in New Zealand on Sunday. The girls have acclimatised well," said Murdock in an interview with STAR Sports yesterday.

"The training sessions allowed us to connect with our new player, Rhea Dixon out of England, and captain Romelda Aiken-George," Murdock said.

He believes the players will perform well despite their inexperience.

"While we are not as experienced as some of our opponents, the unpredictability of this version of the game gives all teams a good chance as any other to do well in the tournament," stated Murdock, who was also a part of the coaching unit for the bronze-medal team at the recent World Championships in South Africa.

At the Fast5 tournament, only three teams have been victorious since its inception in 2012. New Zealand lead the pack with five titles, winning in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018. England won the event in 2017, and Australia were crowned champions last year.

Jamaica have mined silver twice after finishing second in 2017 and 2018.