Singapore, Netball Singapore have announced the return of an even bigger Nations Cup for 2009. This year, the week-long competition will feature six top netballing nations from 6-12 December at the recently renovated Toa Payoh Sports Hall.
Returning to Singapore for the fourth edition of the Nations Cup will be Canada (ranked 21st), Northern Ireland (19th) and Scotland (13th). New to the competition are the Cook Islands (7th) and Malaysia (20th). Singapore are currently ranked 15th in the world so it should be a closely contested tournament with the Cook Islands and fast improving Scotland starting as favourites.
Canada featured in the first two editions of the Nations Cup (2006 & 2007), while Scotland took part in the inaugural event and Northern Ireland played in the 2007 5 Nations competition.
Singapore won the 4 Nations Cup and 5 Nations Cup in 2006 and 2007 respectively. The 2008 edition of the Nations Cup saw Papua New Guinea overcome Botswana to lift the trophy while Samoa A finished in third spot, followed by Sri Lanka then host Singapore. The tournament allows Singapore the opportunity to continue to nurture a team to contest the next World Netball Championships right here in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in July 2011.
President of Netball Singapore, Mr Tan Wee Khim said, “The Nations Cup brings together a mix of international teams with varying styles which will provide great entertainment value for netball supporters. The competition has now been expanded to include six nations. This gradual step-up in the size and therefore complexity of event management is important for Netball Singapore in the upgrading of our organisational skills towards hosting the World Netball Championships in 2011, “
The Nations Cup provides the competing teams with important international competition which will also be beneficial in their efforts to improve on their respective IFNA world rankings. The tournament is a chance for them to test themselves against teams with different playing styles, travel and train as a unit and to play before knowledgeable and appreciative audiences in Singapore. .
As host broadcaster for the Nations Cup 2009, ESPN Star Sports will be covering the event which will be aired across 17 Asian countries. It will also be broadcast in Singapore on Sling HD on mio tv who are lending their support to the sport this year.
“The Nations Cup will reach out to a wider audience this year with increased television coverage through our host broadcaster ESPN Star Sports. We hope to continue to develop regional support for the sport so that when the World Netball Championships arrive in town in 2011, there will be a wider support for the event and Singapore as the second time hosts to this prestigious tournament“, commented Cyrus Medora, Executive Director of Netball Singapore.[TO BE APPROVED]
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Fixtures
| Date | Game | Time | Fixtures | ||
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| 2.45pm | Opening Ceremony | ||
| 6-Dec | 1 | 4pm | Singapore | v | Canada |
| Sun | 2 | 6pm | Malaysia | v | Scotland |
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| 3 | 8pm | Northern Ireland | v | Cook Islands |
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| 4 | 4pm | Scotland | v | Cook Islands |
| 7-Dec | 5 | 6pm | Canada | v | Northern Ireland |
| Mon | 6 | 8pm | Malaysia | v | Singapore |
|
| 7 | 4pm | Northern Ireland | v | Malaysia |
| 8-Dec | 8 | 6pm | Canada | v | Cook Islands |
| Tue | 9 | 8pm | Singapore | v | Scotland |
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| 10 | 4pm | Cook Islands | v | Malaysia |
| 9-Dec | 11 | 6pm | Singapore | v | Northern Ireland |
| Wed | 12 | 8pm | Scotland | v | Canada |
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| OFF DAY | ||
| 10-Dec |
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| Thu |
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| 13 | 4pm | Malaysia | v | Canada |
| 11-Dec | 14 | 6pm | Northern Ireland | v | Scotland |
| Fri | 15 | 8pm | Cook Islands | v |
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