Isle of Man enter netball world rankings for first time

Captain Ashley Hall (front, fourth from left ) with her Isle of Man team-mates

It has a population of 85,000 but against the odds, the Isle of Man netball team has entered the world rankings for the first time after winning the Netball Europe Open.

The Manx Rams beat Ireland, Gibraltar and the UAE in Douglas to win their first-ever international tournament.

They are now joint 21st with Grenada, ahead of 24th-ranked Singapore who qualified for July's World Cup.

"We've made history," captain Ashley Hall said.

"I was expecting us to be low 30s [in the rankings] but we were blown away with 21st.

"We were only affiliated to Netball Europe last year and we never thought we could win it.

"To be above sides like Singapore is amazing and the ultimate dream is now to qualify for the World Cup."

Singapore has a population of 5.6 million - 66 times the size of the Isle of Man - while Ireland are ranked 20th in the world.

Hall, who is a full-time secondary school PE teacher, is the sister of England player Jade Clarke and says her sibling's Commonwealth Games success has "inspired" netballers in the Isle of Man.

International Netball Federation rules state that teams must play eight international Test matches and to have played against at least two ranked teams to meet qualification criteria - the Rams have played nine.

Australia top the rankings, ahead of Commonwealth champions England with Jamaica in third.