Hosts and defending champion face higher ranked teams
Singapore, 10 June 2008 – The Fisher & Paykel Nations Cup 2008 was officially launched at Netball Singapore today with news of a new title sponsor and the strongest line up of teams ever to compete in the Nations Cup.
From 31st August to 6th September, Singapore will host a six nations’ competition at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall. Joining Singapore will be Botswana, Northern Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Samoa with the final nation still to be confirmed. This will be the most challenging opposition Singapore has faced since the 2007 World Championships last November in New Zealand. Singapore battled hard with some close results to finish with a world ranking of 15th and they will now face strong competition from Samoa (6th), Papua New Guinea (14th) and Botswana who finished 10th during the World Championships 2007. The hosts will be looking to put up a good showing on home soil after winning the 4 Nations and 5 Nations Cup in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
“Netball Singapore is delighted to be hosting the Fisher & Paykel Nations Cup later this year and it is set to be a very exciting competition with such a strong line-up of teams participating” said President of Netball Singapore, Tan Wee Khim.
He continued, “Hosting this event is important for our national players but it is also important preparation for Netball Singapore as we build towards hosting the World Netball Championships in 2011. Thanks to the support of Fisher & Paykel and our other sponsors like Energizer, UOB, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SMRT and the Singapore Sports Council, we are on the right track.”
Fisher & Paykel have been long-term supporters of Netball Singapore and are reinforcing their commitment by taking the title sponsorship of this year’s Nations Cup. Miles Webster, Country Manager for Fisher & Paykel said, “Netball Singapore has grown and developed significantly over the last few years. We have been sponsoring the National Team since 2006 and are proud to be the title sponsor for the Nations Cup this year. The team thoroughly deserved their place at the 2007 World Netball Championships and we are delighted that their dream of hosting the 2011 World Netball Championships has become reality.
“We see netball as a major sport in Singapore as it has one of the highest female participation rates for any sport here and as an organisation they continually strive to improve and give the best they can to their members and the national players.”
The Fisher & Paykel Nations Cup will see a team from Africa for the first time since the event has started, Samoa is also participating in the event for the first time. Papua New Guinea was part of the 4 Nations Netball Cup finishing in second place while Northern Ireland are excited to return after a third place finish last year.
Singapore will be led by newly appointed coach Lisa Beehag who took the reigns in January 2008 She said, “This is going to be a great competition and it will be interesting to see how the new team performs. With quite a few new players in the squad we will be relying on those that have had the experience of a World Championship to help steer this new era. The team will have a tough challenge on their hands against teams such as Samoa but I am confident that they will be working hard in each match trying to put some new concepts into their games and perhaps cause a few upsets when you look at the official world rankings.”
Netball Singapore is also proud to announce that ESPN Star Sports will be covering the event in a one-hour highlights show of the Nations Cup finals and a promotional campaign to raise awareness of the event in the weeks leading up to the competition. This will give the national team and sponsors exposure across 17 countries in Asia.
The Singapore team for the Fisher & Paykel Nations Cup 2008 will be announced on Tuesday 5th August with a new leadership team expected.
