SINGAPORE – Singapore cruised to a 67-13 win over Japan today (Sept 7) to begin their title defence of the Asian Netball Championships at the OCBC Arena.

Charmaine Soh and debutante Natalie Long combined for the lion’s share of the goals as Chen Huifen and Melissa Teo also got into the scoring action in the Group A match.

Long said: “I told myself to keep calm if I got on during the match, then I heard I was starting and felt so nervous. I am pleased with me performance but have a lot to work on.”

Singapore Captain Lin Qingyi said: “I think that was a good start for the team and good we managed to get all our players on court. I am very happy with the performance of our three new players.”

“There were a lot of nerves on court as the players really want to perform well for their home crowd but I am hoping they will relax as the week goes on and we will build on our first win,” added Coach Ruth Aitken.

Malaysia crushed Brunei 78-15 in the day’s other result so far.

Singapore faces Vietnam tomorrow before taking on Hong Kong and India on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.