FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup teams ready for battle

Captains and Coaches in town for the FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup took time out from their training today to reach new heights when they posed for photographs on top of the highest vantage point in the heart of Singapore.

The week-long competition begins tomorrow night with Singapore taking on Sri Lanka in the opening match at 4pm. Following that will be Namibia versus Papua New Guinea at 6pm then last onto court will be a battle between highest ranked team Fiji and local opposition Malaysia at 8pm. All the action takes place at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall.

The stage is set for a week of fast-paced and fierce action with all teams fielding a mix of youth and experience so which nation will walk away with the top-honours is anyone’s guess.

Each team talked about their targets, expectations and preparations for the week ahead.

Here is a snap shot of some of their thoughts....

SINGAPORE
Coach, Kate Carpenter: “Sri Lanka are a team we know a lot about and have played quite often but we have a number of players on debut so we won’t really know what we’re aiming for until we see how we perform tomorrow and then we will look to build from that.

“We have lots of defensive options to combat all the different styles of play this week. It is an exciting and fun tournament to play in with cross-regional opposition and the different challenges they pose.”

Co-Captain Jean Ng: “It’s always exciting to play in the Nations Cup. We really enjoy playing in front of a home crowd. We’ve never beaten Fiji before and we came close at the World Championships so that is going to be a big game for us.”

MALAYSIA
Captain, Yati Akhtar Mahtar: “I first played in the Nations Cup in 2009 and was injured for the World Championships so this is my firs competition back and I am excited to be here.

“It is a great experience for us and good international exposure. We have some junior players and six that played in the World Championships. We expect Papua New Guinea and Singapore to be our toughest matches this week.”

NAMIBIA
Coach, Marcha Myburgh: “This is our second time at the Nations Cup and we’re delighted to be here. Our toughest opposition this week will be Fiji and Singapore we expect.

“We will play our own way and use this week as a good opportunity to develop our younger players and give them the chance to play on an international level.”

Captain, Jatjinda Kambatuku: “Singapore play the same style of netball as us but a bit faster. I am looking forward to playing every match this week. Winning games and this international exposure is really important for us.”

SRI LANKA
Coach, Hyacinth Wijesinghe: “The average age of our team this year is 22 and the average height is 5ft 11. Our youngest player is only 17 years old and we have ten new girls in the team so for us this week is about developing new players for Sri Lanka as we prepare for the Asian Championships next year.”

Captain, Tharjini Sivalingam: “Our new players will put up a good fight this week. I have played in the team since 2005. Against Singapore on Monday I will play a different style of netball to counter-act their tall defender but I am keeping the plans a secret.”

FIJI
[Please refer to previous release and comments taken at the clinic session on 01.12.11]

Papua New Guinea
[Did not attend the press activity due to training commitments]

Netball Singapore
4 December 2011