Easy 2nd win for S’pore’s netballers

SINGAPORE — The Republic’s netballers secured their second victory in the SEA Games yesterday with an emphatic 65-24 win over Thailand at the OCBC Arena, with Charmaine Soh putting in an impressive performance and emerging as the top scorer with 28 goals. Yasmin Ho, the rookie on the team, also enjoyed a good outing with a 100 per cent shooting accuracy, converting all her 20 shots at goal. Pamela Liew and Chen Huifen combined to net 17 goals.

The Singaporeans, who are ranked 17 in the world and are favourites for the gold medal, despatched Brunei 72-21 in their opening game on Sunday.

Singapore head coach Ruth Aitken rated the performance of her charges 7.5 out of 10, but she will put her players through their paces again this morning to iron out weaknesses such as the timing of their passes and shooting accuracy before they take on Malaysia in their next round robin game this evening.

“The match against Malaysia will be something like the final (of the SEA Games) and whoever makes the least mistakes will win. I have got some footage of Malaysia’s game against the Philippines, and we will analyse that,” said Aitken, who gave all 12 members of the team a run at yesterday’s game.

“I thought that Yasmin performed well, and the confidence among everyone on the team is really growing,” she added. “We have got some different combinations we want to try. I think while it is important we keep the same starting seven, it must be seamless when the five players on the bench come on during matches, and I think they have all got confidence now to really make a difference.”

Today’s causeway derby will also hold particular significance for veteran player Premila Hirubalan, who still remembers all too well just how painful it was when Malaysia edged out Singapore to win the gold at the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Fourteen years later, the 32-year-old — the only member in the Republic’s 12-strong netball team to have played in that fateful edition of the Games — is looking for payback, but it is unlikely that will come easy.

After all, the Malaysians — the second-highest-ranked team in the competition (world No 23) — flexed their superiority with a stunning 112-11 thrashing of the Filipinos yesterday and are highly confident of winning the tournament.

“My team achieved our target of scoring over 100 goals and I am happy. This signals our intent (to win the SEA Games gold) and build us up nicely for the game against Singapore,” said Malaysian head coach Aminah Asaari. “We are 100 per cent confident of beating Singapore. I know we haven’t beat Singapore for many years (since 2003), but the ball is round, and anything can happen.”

According to Hirubalan, tension is already building up in M Hotel where the six regional netball teams are staying.

“They have been performing very well, and are very ‘gung-ho’ in the hotel. They are showing loads of passion (in the sport), making a lot of noise, and just have a lot of belief in themselves — just like how we are,” said Hirubalan.

“There is no exchange between us. We look at each other, then look the other way and just walk along. There is loads of (friendly) rivalry going on, and it is about who blinks first, so we will see tomorrow.”

Today’s matches at OCBC Arena:

1.30pm: Myanmar vs Philippines

3.30pm: Thailand vs Brunei

7pm: Singapore vs Malaysia