Netball World Cup: Northern Ireland qualifying ‘surreal’ – Caroline O’Hanlon

World-ranked number 15 Northern Ireland’s emphatic 73-50 victory over Republic of Ireland in their final qualifier was not enough to secure one of the two qualification spots automatically.

However, Scotland’s narrow win over Wales in Sunday’s later game booked both teams spots with Wales, who are ranked ninth in the world, missing out.

“It was a real rollercoaster of a day,” O’Hanlon continued.

“Obviously we started out with a hard-fought win against the Republic of Ireland, but we knew that we were still relying on Scotland.

“That match was just up and down the whole way through, so we were nerve-wrecked watching that. Just sitting in the stands, not being able to control anything, was nerve-wracking.”

O’Hanlon was captain of the side when they finished 10th in the World Cup seven years ago.

But, now, the 31-year-old said the squad will head to Sydney with ambitions of competing for results rather than simply gaining experience.

“The last one we were at was in Liverpool and there was a lot of home support, but Sydney is the home of netball at the minute,” O’Hanlon added.

“Sydney is the centre of the best league in the world. It’ll be a brilliant spectacle and it’s just class to be a part of it.

“The group will be going into the games not just to experience, not just to learn, but to actually go on and compete and try to win games and get results. That’s the next step for us really.”