S’pore aiming to win first Nations Cup since 2007

They have not won the tournament since 2007.

But despite an eight-year title drought, and the fact that the current national squad is currently in transition following the retirement of veterans Micky Lin, Premila Hirubalan and Chen Hui Fen, the Singapore national netball team will be targeting to win this year’s Mission Foods Netball Nations Cup (Sept 4-10).

World No 17 Singapore will take on Papua New Guinea (15th), Zambia (16th), Canada (18th), Botswana (19th) and Ireland (25th) in the round-robin tournament at the OCBC Arena. The Republic will begin their campaign on Sunday against Ireland.

According to national head coach Ruth Aitken, winning the tournament is an achievable target for her squad which finished third at the recent Asian Championships.

“Whenever you go into a tournament, you want to win,” she said.

“Everybody will be wanting to do that too, and that is absolutely what we are aiming for. Six games in seven days is all about consistency, so we need to ensure that each day we are building up to give ourselves the best chance at the end to be in the finals.

“Of course, we are realistic too on where the team is at the moment. (But) winning has got to be the overall goal.

“Otherwise, you stay at home. I believe if we can play to our potential, we will be right there at the end.” ADELENE WONG