Hong Kong and Sri Lanka still scoring high in Singapore

First Wins for Chinese Taipei and India at Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships on Day Three of Action

Top seeds at the Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships, Singapore and Malaysia, took a break from play today as the eight other nations continued to contest their group positions in Singapore.

MYANMAR vs SRI LANKA 

Both teams were making their second appearances in the competition but for Myanmar it was only their second ever netball match! 

Sri Lanka controlled the match from start to finish and is the first team to score over a century after the racked up a winning score of 109-11. 

You could see the improvements in Myanmar with just one game under their belts as they looked more composed and if they can tighten up on their accuracy of passing and shooting then they will certainly develop in the sport quickly.

For Sri Lanka, it was their on-form shooters in Tharjini Sivalingam and Thishala Algama that gave them an easy win – both recorded a 95% shooting accuracy – on top of their huge height advantage.

Sri Lankan Coach, Yasa Ramachandra, praised Myanmar for their efforts today. She said, “We played really well today but Myanmar also played well for being beginners. They are quite attacking and always tried to shoot when could. They need to work a bit more on their passing and defending. We were able to use all our 12 players today, which was important as we have our big match against Malaysia still to come on Thursday. Tomorrow we will play Brunei which will be quite similar to today.”

Myanmar Captain, Kyi Lae Soe gave her thoughts on the tough match. She said, “Today’s game was so different from yesterday’s game. We were better matched up in height against Brunei yesterday but today Sri Lanka had a lot more height on us and they were very strong. This game, against Sri Lanka, was a lot more difficult than our game yesterday.”

HONG KONG vs VIETNAM 

Hong Kong recorded their third straight victory with an 80-17 win over Vietnam to book their semi-final place but have yet to be challenged, as their final group match against Singapore tomorrow will certainly be their toughest so far. 

They are looking confident and have now had plenty of opportunities to test out various combinations on court in preparation for their top of the table clash. They played four consistent quarters and must now recover quickly ahead of an expected high tempo match against the hosts tomorrow.

Coach of Hong Kong, Connie Wong gave her thoughts on their three victories and a look ahead to their next match.

She said, “We wanted to get these three games under our belt to cement our spot in the semi-final and obviously we have a big game against Singapore tomorrow to see who will top our pool so we’ve been building up and focusing on process and hopefully the outcome will come. 

“Obviously our game against Singapore tomorrow is going to much tougher but it’s good to get the combinations running and work out our set plays. It’s going to be a whole different level tomorrow. We need to play our hearts out. In a big occasion we just need to step up to the pressure, step up to another level. We have a game plan and just need to make sure we play the whole sixty minutes.” 

Vietnam looked to have improved since their first match against Singapore last night (they scored nine more goals), and did what they could to halt the flow of their opponents. They are eager on the attack and their knowledge of the game is improving with each quarter. They next face India tomorrow where they have a chance at their first ever victory if they play with composure.

Vietnam’s Captain, Thuy Duong explained how they felt after two hard matches. She said, “Yesterday [against Singapore] was very intense. We learned from that and had more accurate passing and better defending today. We will play harder against India tomorrow and aim to get a win.”

BRUNEI vs CHINESE TAIPEI 

The most exciting match of the day was between Brunei and Chinese Taipei as their opposing styles of play clashed on court for an exciting and physical encounter. The result went 33-56 in Chinese Taipei’s favour to give them their first win of the week but Brunei fought hard and entertained the crowds.

Chinese Taipei look more composed with each performance and today was no exception. The delight of their team members on the bench could be heard around the arena as they stretched ahead, earning a comfortable 17-35 lead at half time. 

There was only one point in it for the third quarter (9-10) but Chinese Taipei had done enough by then to feel confident of a win. Brunei have also showed big improvements however. They maintained a high tempo for the full 60 minutes and just struggled against the height of the oppositions defence to capitalise on all their chances. 

Chinese Taipei get to rest their legs tomorrow after three intense games, and return on Thursday to close the group stages against Myanmar. Brunei have another battle on their hands tomorrow against Sri Lanka.

Thilaka Jinadas, Coach of Brunei said, “That was a tough match but we stayed focused. We just didn’t play as well in the first quarter. We are improving with each game and will give Sri Lanka a good fight tomorrow if we can focus on short, sharp passes. Otherwise it is hard against their height and strength.”

Chinese Taipei Captain, Yu-Ting Wang shared her delight saying, “We are very happy with the result of this game. We focused on our timing on our passes and new we could win if we did that. This morning at training out coach gave us tips on defence and we put that into play today.”

INDIA vs JAPAN 

The closest contest of day three was saved for last as India took their first two points of the competition when they survived a hard fight with Japan to win 60-52.

Just three points separated the two sides after the opening 15 minutes (15-12) and it was the same again in the second period to give India a 31-25 lead at the half.  

India finished 5th at the 2012 Championships while Japan finished 9th but there was not much separating the sides today, showing Japan’s progress in these two years. 

Japan lost the third quarter by a single point (16-15) and again in the final quarter (13-12) but they couldn’t get over the threshold to control the match. India’s scoring was just too good at a 91% average for the team.

Indian Captain, Rupinder Kaur said, “That was a very hard match, Japan are a very good team. I am very happy with the win and for the next matches we will try and get more wins.”

Japanese Coach, Eiko Tago spoke passionately about the match. She said, “We thought we could win that game. The players did really well but as the coach I wished for the win, especially for the team. Even though tomorrow is a day off from play, we’ll be training hard especially around the goal circle. The first quarter is the most important quarter so it is important we have our best team on court then. The team is improving but so are all the other teams.

“Many of our players are inexperienced and have only started playing netball recently so its great to see their improvement as well as our shooting percentage increase over the three games.  However, our shooting percentage always falls short of the other teams so that’s where we need to continue improving.”

Japan will watch the action from the stands tomorrow while India takes on Vietnam.

RESULTS 

09 SEPT: 

Match 9: MYANMAR 11-109 SRI LANKA (HT 6-45) 

Match 10: HONG KONG 80-17 VIETNAM (HT 43-9) 

Match 11: BRUNEI 33-56 CHINESE TAIPEI (HT 17-35) 

Match 12: INDIA 60-52 JAPAN (HT 31-25)

08 SEPT: 

Match 5: MYANMAR 32-60 BRUNEI (HT 19-26) 

Match 6: JAPAN 24-66 HONG KONG (HT 10-29) 

Match 7: CHINESE TAIPEI 35-63 MALAYSIA (HT 20-36)

Match 8: VIETNAM 8-84 SINGAPORE (HT 2-46)

07 SEPT: 

Match 1: SINGAPORE 67-13 JAPAN (HT 38-7) 

Match 2: MALAYSIA 79-15 BRUNEI  (HT 49-4) 

Match 3: HONG KONG 84-17 INDIA (HT 39-7) 

Match 4: SRI LANKA 57-36 CHINESE TAIPEI (HT 29-22)

FIXTURES

World Rankings (as of 25-08-14)

Singapore – 18
Malaysia – 20
Sri Lanka – 24
Hong Kong – 25
All other competing nations are currently unranked.