Singapore get off to a winning start at the Nations Cup
The seventh edition of the Nations Cup started today with three exciting matches on court at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall in Singapore.
Hosts *Singapore* opened the six-day competition with a narrow victory against local Asian rivals *Malaysia*. It was a nervous start for both sides with many unforced errors. Singapore managed to take the first quarter by two goals (11-9) but it was Malaysia who looked the more settled and composed and won the second quarter to lead 19-22 at the half.
Only one point separated them with the final quarter to go (33-34) and it wasn’t until the final four minutes of play that Singapore took the lead and won with only a two goal cushion *44-42*.
Singapore Coach Kate Carpenter said, “We were trailing all through the match and came ahead when it counted. It was another great match between Singapore and Malaysia. Netball is a game that you can score very quickly and we came ahead at the right time.
“I think everyone has to step it up for the next game. We needed to be stronger on the ball, stronger to the ball and perhaps put more movement in our game. That got better when Cassandra Soh came on in the shooting, Jean Ng moved to the wing and Chen Li Li came on at the back. It moved a bit better.
“It was great to have Aqilah (Afiqah) on court for her first cap and I am happy with how she played. She’s only sixteen, it’s her first international and she’s playing at home. Wing defence is probably her third preferred position so she did well.”
Co-Captain Lin Qingyi said, “That was really, really close right from the start. We had to give it everything we had in the last quarter to finish the game well. I am really proud of the girls.”
Looking ahead to the remainder of the competition she added, “We will take it one game at a time. We’ll watch the other teams in action today as we haven’t seen them for a while. We’ll assess them and come up with strategies against them.”
Malaysia’s Captain Yap Suo Yuen enjoyed the tough match. She said, “Today was a very tight game and very tough. Singapore was very strong and very fast. We put in 100% but we weren’t lucky today.”
Singapore continued their winning streak over their neighbours that began ten years ago – the last time they lost was 2002 in the Singapore-Malaysia series. Their most recent results being 42-35 in last year’s Nations Cup (Malaysia finished in third; Singapore finished second to Fiji) and 38-34 in the Asian Championships held in August.
The second match on court was between *Namibia*, who finished fourth last year, and Nations Cup rookies the *Republic of Ireland*. Currently ranked 26 th and 29th in the World respectively, both teams looked to be well matched for height but the Africans dominated with their physical prowess and athleticism around the court, stretching 35-10 ahead at half-time.
Some positional changes for both teams at the break made for a slightly closer second half of the match as the Irish tried to settle into a rhythm in the high-tempo match. There was only two points separating the two sides in the final quarter but Namibia had done enough and finished with a *58-25*opening win.
Namibian Coach Marcha Myburgh was delighted with the solid start. She said, “I am extremely happy. We were able to play all our players today; we wanted to try new combinations.”
Commenting on the team’s strengths she said, “Definitely my shooters, they were on fire today [GS Jatjinta Kambatuku had a 92% scoring average] and we’ve got a new goal keeper [Bernhardine Makari] and she’s also very good. Before we made our changes we wanted to start with our best foot first which we did and I am very happy.”
Her Captain Jatjinda Kambatuku added, “I am very excited, it was a real boost for us for this tournament. We really had some good defence today which made the shooters have confidence.”
The experience of their appearance at the 2011 Nations Cup has certainly helped them prepare for this year.
Kambatuku continued, “We knew to expect hard netball so we have been training very hard back home so that we were ready. We have a chance of ending first, second or third this year.”
The Republic of Ireland are new to the international fold having only been ranked this summer.
Coach Kaylea McQuade was very happy with their performance. “This is our first real international match. We played. Northern Ireland last weekend then straight into this, our first trip away, so I am really happy with our performance.
“There were things we can improve on but there were times where we were drawing in that last quarter. We’ve several injuries and one of our shooters has still to arrive. The two shooters we do have are both injured so we had two players who don’t play shooter playing that position today. That’s probably what we’ll have to do this week to help things along.
“I think the physical nature of the team shocked them initially, they’ve never played against this style before. They now know what to expect and that they’ll have this for the rest of the week. It’s just a case of trying to hit the ground running and continue to improve.”
Tomorrow they will face Singapore which will be another tough match. McQuade said, “We know what we’ve got to do out on court to combat their style and tactics. Our girls have to be consistent and do it for the whole hour.”
Captain Niamh Murphy echoed McQuade’s sentiments saying “Very tough opening match, it’s our first time at anything like this. We took a few quarters to get into the match but I was pleased with our second half performance. The girls played really hard, we have to get used to the heat as well. We were a bit shell-shocked at the start so we’re hoping we can build on it and start from the first whistle tomorrow.”
Final match on day one pitted *Tanzania*, who last played here in 2010, against the 2012 Asian Championships runners-up *Sri Lanka*.
Tanzania got the upper hand in the opening quarter going 19-15 ahead. It was 14 goals each in the second just keeping the Africans in front 33-29 but in the second half they stretched further ahead and closed out the match *67-51*.
Tanzania Captain Lilian Sylidion said, “I feel very happy. The game was tough but we tried our very best. Our shooters were good but to get better we must learn to open up our play and cut across the court.”
Sri Lankan Co-Captain Gayathri Lankathilake was disappointed with the opening defeat saying “Our defence needs to improve. All our new players are in defence. Tanzania were very good, very quick. I think we’ll learn a good lesson from that match and have a new game plan for the next game.”
The action at Toa Payoh Sports Hall in Singapore continues tomorrow from 3pm.
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