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SEA Games: Singapore’s netballers lose Causeway derby

SINGAPORE – Hands clasped together in prayer just minutes before roll-off, perhaps Singaporean netballer Chen Lili knew that divine intervention would be needed for the Republic to beat arch-rivals Malaysia in their preliminary round match at the Juara Stadium today (Aug 16).

Singapore's Charmaine Soh (in red) in action in the SEA Games preliminary round match between Singapore and Malaysia at the Juara Stadium. Photo courtesy of Ben Cho/Sport Singapore

Singapore's Charmaine Soh (in red) in action in the SEA Games preliminary round match between Singapore and Malaysia at the Juara Stadium. Photo courtesy of Ben Cho/Sport Singapore

SINGAPORE – Hands clasped together in prayer just minutes before roll-off, perhaps Singaporean netballer Chen Lili knew that divine intervention would be needed for the Republic to beat arch-rivals Malaysia in their preliminary round match at the Juara Stadium today (Aug 16).

Unfortunately, the Singaporeans’ prayers went unanswered, as the defending champions were beaten 50-37 by the hosts to the delight of the 1,000-strong capacity crowd.

In a rematch of the 2015 SEA Games final between the region’s top two netball teams – which Singapore had won 46-43 then – victory would have given either side a huge psychological boost in their gold medal campaigns.

While the Republic is ranked three places above Malaysia at world No 18, their opponents boast a more experienced side which ended a 31-year-old drought at the Asian Netball Championship last year when they beat Sri Lanka to gold.

In contrast, interim national netball coach Yeo Mee Hong had travelled to Kuala Lumpur with a new-look team comprising only five players from the 2015 squad after the retirements of key players Micky Lin, Chen Huifen and Premila Hirubalan. The lack of game time and chemistry had showed in their opening match against minnows Brunei – which Singapore won 62-37 – but the flaws proved costly in their match against the Malaysians.

With 19-year-old sharpshooter An Najwa Azizan leading the attack and netting 33 of their 50 goals, Malaysia dominated from the get-go as they stormed to a 14-11 lead in the first quarter, before claiming the second period 27-18.

Switching it up in the third period, Yeo opted to swap 1.96m-tall Chen from defence in a bid to counter the taller Malaysian defenders while freeing up goal attack Charmaine Soh to move the ball down the line more effectively.

While defensive duo Melody Chen and Nur Aqilah Andin managed to limit the Malaysian attack, errant shooting at the net saw the Singaporeans scoring just eight points to their opponents’ 10 goals, as the hosts won the third quarter 37-26.

With a roaring home crowd behind them, Malaysia went on to claim victory in the fourth quarter for a 50-37 final result.

While clearly disappointed with the loss, Yeo is confident that her team will be able to give the hosts a good run for their money should both teams meet again in the final on Sunday.

“We expected the physicality from the Malaysians and expected a tough game,” she said.

“I thought we started well, but we didn’t hold onto that and we made a couple of unforced errors in the second quarter and Malaysia took advantage of that.”

Yeo also said that they are still tinkering with possible combinations for the team, and she added: “There are definitely areas to work on and our lines are not fixed yet. Our execution of passes was too rushed and the timing between the feeders and shooters need work. The team chemistry is still improving and I’m hoping it will peak in the final.

“We are disappointed with the result but not the performance as we played better than in the Brunei game.

“We will look at the footage and work on tidying up some areas. We hope we can match up to them.”

Singapore's netballers will play the Philippines next on Thursday (Aug 16), at 3pm.

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