Day one at FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup full or exciting action

The sixth edition of the FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup started today at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall in Singapore with three exciting matches on court.

Hosts Singapore opened the six-day competition against Asian rivals Sri Lanka and dominated from the opening quarter winning 74-36. Singapore’s debutants had strong performances – goalkeeper Chen Li Li; Shelby Koh in wing-attack and Yu Meiling who made an appearance as goal shooter in the final quarter.

With the shooters staying composed in the circle and the defence holding firm against the 209cm Sri Lankan shooter Tharjini Sivalignam; Singapore will be feeling confident and ready for the challenge of Papa New Guinea tomorrow (6pm).

Singapore coach Kate Carpenter said, “I am very happy with the performance today. Our players delivered across the four quarters and we managed to get the whole team on court which was important.

“The girls on debut were fantastic. They looked very composed and comfortable. We’re a long way off from the Asian Championships but a win over Sri Lanka is very encouraging. We had a blend of youth and experience so we’ll keep building and working with this group to keep improving.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s match she continued, “We will enjoy the win for a while and then watch PNG play their match. We will be trying to do more of what worked well and we’ll be tidying up on some things too.”

17 year-old Shelby Koh was delighted with her first performance for Singapore. She said, “That was a great experience for me today. I really enjoyed getting a victory over Sri Lanka in my first cap for Singapore and I am happy with how I played.

“I was really nervous but the senior players told me to stay calm and they were very encouraging throughout. My family have come over from Australia on holiday to support me so it was great to play in front of them today.”

Sri Lanka has ten new players in their young squad as they look to prepare for the 2012 Asian Championships which they are hosting. They will face the highest ranked team of the competition- Fiji- at 8pm tomorrow.

Sri Lankan coach Hyacinth Wijesinghe was not surprised by the outcome, “I expected the result today. Singapore played well but we have a young team and I am happy as I can see a lot of potential in them. All our ten new players got onto the court and I am encouraged by what they did out there.”

Second match of the evening pitted Namibia (competing in their second Nations Cup) against 2008 Champions Papua New Guinea (PNG) with the Oceanic visitors having to battle hard for a 47-55 victory.

Ahead by ten points at half time (20-30), Namibia came back in the second half and closed out the match by winning the fourth quarter 18-12 but it was too late to change the result.

Namibian Captain Jitjinda Kambatuku said, “We had a very tough game, it was quite physical. We really enjoyed it – it was a good game. We improved especially in the last quarter.

“We haven’t played many international matches so I am very happy with this one. Tomorrow against Malaysia we are going to go out as hard as we can to win it.”

PNG Co-Captain Lua Rikis said, “We didn’t know what to expect from Namibia, it was the first time we’ve played them so it was a good run for the whole team.

“We have quite a new team so we are happy to get the win and hope we can continue this for the next couple of days. We are up against the host nation tomorrow. We have seen they also have a few new girls but we are not going to underestimate any of the teams, especially Singapore, they’re tough. We’re going to stick to our game plan and go our hard tomorrow.”

Final match of the day was the much anticipated appearance of Nations Cup newcomers Fiji against Malaysia, Fiji coming out on top 61-37.

An injury to Siti Mariam Abdul from Malaysia at the start of the fourth quarter slightly overshadowed what was a very athletic and fast-paced match but both teams bounced back to finish strongly.

Fiji, currently ranked 7^th in the world and tipped by many to take the title, Malaysia made them work hard for their win. Other teams will surely play with confidence and gusto against them this week.

Yati Akhtar Mahtar, Captain for Malaysia said, “It was a tough game for us and it was a great pity to lose one of our main players today.

“I think we didn’t have enough energy on court and were not prepared enough for this tournament. We will try and improve for the other matches and tomorrow against Namibia we are targeting a win.”

Fijian Captain Mere Rabuka added, “We haven’t played Malaysia before so this was a surprise team for us. Even though they’re ranked below us there was not a lot between us.

“They were physical and playing to our intensity which was good. We were forcing them to go wide so we could intercept from the back. They were a bit scared when we were coming out for those balls but they came out firing after the accident.

“For the match against Sri Lanka, their weapon will be GS so what we’re going to do is strategise on trying to block the ball before it reaches the edge of the circle. It’s easier to shield the ball before it gets there so that’s what we’re hopefully going to do.

“Our performance was not great today. We were playing at their pace and following them. They gave us a wake-up call though.”

The action at Toa Payoh Sports Hall in Singapore continues tomorrow from 4pm.

Netball Singapore
5 December 2011