The thundersticks have been a big hit with many at the champs. Photo / Martin Sykes
Netball's noisemakers, the infamous thundersticks, have become collectors' items at the world championships.
The inflatable plastic, sausage-shaped bangers - which amplify applause, infuriating their detractors - have been conspicuous by their absence from the Trusts Stadium for the past two days of the tournament.
They have been so
popular with netball fans that 34,000 pairs were snapped up in the first five days - almost one set for each person who has walked through the gates this week. (The crowd figure to yesterday was 38,500.)
But there's bad news for those in the crowd driven mad by the deafening din of the sticks.
Championship organisers have held back the last 6000, and they'll be handed out for tonight's big final.
Thundersticks are a New Zealand invention, created for spectators in the late 1990s by long-time netball sponsor Fisher & Paykel.
They have been adopted by other sports in New Zealand and overseas - they were in the stands at last year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Many fans brought their own thundersticks to yesterday's semifinals - including some lurid gold and green versions applauding the team from across the Ditch.
