André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

When the Sunshine Girls take the court against Australia and New Zealand in the Sunshine Series over the next few days, a lot will be required from youthful defensive trio Paula Thompson, Nicole Aiken and youngster Malysha Kelly who, along with veteran Althea Byfield, are responsible for controlling the opposing shooters.

The three youngsters, who recently returned to the island with the rest of their teammates after helping to secure a historic silver medal at the World Netball Series (WNS) in Manchester, England, are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the world's two top teams, as the team hunts valuable points towards the international-world rankings.

Thompson, who was one of the most impressive players at the FastNet Series and was named Most Valuable Player for one of the preliminary-round games, is excited about the NCB Sunshine Series.

"I'm pretty excited about this series. They (Australian and New Zealand) are some of the best players in the world and, of course, this is very important towards the world ranking so everybody is looking to win."

The Waulgrovians Club player is still not over the euphoria of recieving a silver medal at the inaugural WNS that premiered the shortened FastNet version of the game, but is now fully focused on the longer format and is looking to continue her good form.

"Well, it was great to get a medal at the World Netball Series. That gave me a boost and now I'm looking forward to these games. It won't be difficult to adjust, the main thing is that it's longer so we have to show more endurance," Thompson said.

Aiken, who represents Jamalco in local competition, stressed the need to improve the team's ranking and underlined the importance of the series towards this.

"The ranking is at stake and we need to improve that, and beating these two teams will push us up. It's going to be a tough series, but we know the challenges and we are working on them and once we work together we will pull through."

Kelly, an 18-year-old who represents Ravens at the local level, is equally excited to test her skills against some of the best that the world has to offer.

"It's quite exciting because these are the two top teams in the world and we have a point to prove, so we are looking forward to beating them," said Kelly.

She added: "We have a very good chance to win, we have all improved as individual players and also as a team so we can win."