Despite a 33-17 loss to South Africa in the third game of Friday’s opening day, Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls remained in contention for a medal finish at the Fast5 World Series in Christchurch, New Zealand.

With two wins and a loss, Jamaica joined holders Australia, England, and New Zealand among the teams with the same record, while South Africa won one of their games, and Malawi remained winless.

Hosts New Zealand led the standings on goal differential, followed by Australia, England, and Jamaica. Jamaica was scheduled to conclude their first round on Saturday against England at 6:00 pm (Jamaica time) and then face New Zealand at 9:45 pm before heading into the playoffs.

After securing clutch wins over Australia and Malawi, Jamaica faced setbacks with losses to England and Australia. South Africa, with their backs against the wall, dominated the game against Jamaica, leading 11-2 after the first quarter, 20-6 at halftime, and 29-10 going into the final period.

Gezelle Allison, who won back-to-back player-of-the-game trophies in previous matches, once again emerged as the top scorer for Jamaica with nine goals from 16 attempts. Rhea Dixon and Romelda Aiken-George contributed four goals each, while Amanda Pinkney was unsuccessful in both of her attempts. South Africa’s Zandre Smit led the scoring with 17 goals, supported by Sian Moore (seven goals), Tinita Van Dyk (five goals from five attempts), and Nomfundo Mngomezulu (four goals from five attempts).