Singapore wins the 2014 Mission Foods Asian Netball Championship

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Final day action has the crowds in Singapore on the edge of their seats

The final four matches of the Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships played out to a packed arena today in Singapore. Reigning champions and hosts, Singapore lifted the trophy after an epic final against Sri Lanka which ended with a score of 59-41.

Guest of honour, Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Communications and Information, watched the final unfold before handing over the trophy to the triumphant Singapore.

But before the final showdown, there was plenty of excitement in the other classification matches…

 

BRUNEI VS JAPAN (7/8th Playoff)

The day started with a close encounter between Brunei and Japan – both looking to clinch the 7th place. In 2012 they finished 6th and 8th respectively, so Brunei had been targeting a 5/6th match against Chinese Taipei but their result against India yesterday meant that 7th was the best they could do and they did just that with a 44-37 victory.

Both teams made several changes from the bench as they tried to find an edge and winning combination over their opponents.  Half time saw just two points separate them (17-19) and Brunei got off to the better start in the third quarter to take the lead for the first time in the match (31-27).

Japan made five more changes in the final period and came out with renewed energy and attack, knowing they had to give it everything they had to get back in front but they just couldn’t convert their scoring chances or stop Brunei’s consistent and composed game plan. Brunei won the final period 13-10 and finished their campaign on a winning note.

Coach of Brunei, Thilaka Jinadasa said, “I chose to rest my main shooter for the first quarter of this game but my second shooter wasn’t settling into the game so when we made that change we were able to take control of the game again from Japan.

“Our goal this year was to maintain our sixth place ranking and we could have won yesterday’s game but when it went into extra time my shooters missed a few shots and that was disappointing. But it ok because the competition this year has been very strong so to finish seventh is a good result for us. It’s Brunei’s second international chapter, and it has been a good experience for the team. We have very small structures and had our fitness tested with four games in a row before a break, so it was tough for us but we’re happy with the result.”

For Japan, they have repeated their 8th placing in their second appearance at the Asian Championships but the standard of competition has risen and so has their performance. Coach Eiko Tago said, “Other than our shooting today, I am very happy. We would have won if we had shot well. This is only our second time at this event, so we were better prepared than last time. We will keep working hard and can keep improving.”

 

INDIA VS CHINESE TAIPEI (5/6th Playoff)

A fast and physical 5/6th playoff between India (5th in 20012) and Chinese Taipei (6th when they last competed in 2009) resulted in the a victory for Chinese Taipei with a score of 44-66.

Chinese Taipei started strongly with their shooting pairing of Chih-Yu Yang and Yi-Ling Ke linking well and the midcourt running direct lines to create many chances for a 10-21 lead. India settled more in the second period and clawed some goals back to trail by seven points at half time (25-32).

The third quarter saw Taiwan stretch ahead again, giving themselves a 15 point cushion and the fourth played out in similar fashion with India giving their all but just not able to effectively disrupt the flow of their opponents.

Captain of Chinese Taipei, Yu-Ting Wang, was very happy. She said, “The players were all great. Everyone has really enjoyed the games and feel that we did our best. For me, this is my first time in the Asian Championships and I wanted to do my job as Captain well and make everyone enjoy watching our team. It has been a very good experience for all of us.”

Indian Coach, Thilagavathi Thygarajan said, “It is quite a disappointing loss for us today as I don’t feel like our team performed their best. There was a lack of coordination and there was a lot of passes that weren’t on target. The Chinese Taipei side’s defence was very good but our team could have done better especially when we compare how we played against Japan and Brunei. Still, at the end of the day, my team performed the best they could throughout this championship.” 

 

MALAYSIA VS HONG KONG (3rd/4th Playoff)

A re-match of the 2012 Championship 3rd/4th contest took to the court as the penultimate match of the 2014 Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships between Malaysia and Hong Kong. Malaysia came out on top last time and it was a case of deja vu as they scored third place again with a 50-39 victory.

The Hong Kong team was markedly different this time around with several expats and their most capped player with only 22 (Yuen Ka Hei Grace) before the start of the week. In contrast, Malaysia had some very experienced team members including Siti Nor Farhana (36 caps) and Yap Suo Keun (48 caps). Both teams felt they missed out on a chance at the grand final and wanted to get back to wining ways.

It was a nervous start by both sides with repeated turnovers, basic errors and most of the game being played out in the centre third. The first two quarters went Malaysia’s way – 12-18 and 11-7 respectively for a 23-15 lead at the break.

Hong Kong did start brightly in the third but quickly looked to tire, as they’d done against Sri Lanka yesterday and mistakes interrupted their flow and the frustration set-in as Malaysia kept the goals coming (17-8).

Five substitutions for Hong Kong with 15 minutes to play gave Hong Kong much-needed fresh legs on court and it showed as they won the final period 10-16. But it was always an uphill battle at this late stage and although they did what they could to dent the score margin, Malaysia had done enough to stay calm and composed for their win.

Malaysian coach, Choo Kon Lee gave her thoughts. “I’m quite happy with their performance today, they played quite well and the best thing about this game was that I was able to play my entire squad. Our shooters were very accurate today and our defenders stood up very well against the tall Hong Kong shooter.”

Picking themselves up after the defeat to Singapore yesterday she added, “They were really, really disappointed yesterday, they cried their hearts out because we were nearly there. So I told them, ‘Girls, we have to be strong, we can’t give up, we have to maintain our position from 2012 and that will make us happy.’ I said, ‘We have already lost twice, we know how it feels so let’s win this game. Get out on court and play your game.’

Hong Kong Head Coach, Connie Wong summed up the week for her side saying, “Our shooting wasn’t as it should have been at the start of the match to keep us in the hunt. The Malaysians are a class team and they kept putting the ball away but I thought our defence did a good job and turned over possession several times.”

Looking to the future for netball in Hong Kong she added, “Netball isn’t a popular sport in Hong Kong so we do face challenges as team with work and school commitments. We have enough young players coming through though so that hopefully by the next Asian Championships we will have improved further. Being part of such a professional event this week has been a great experience for the team and we now have the Nations Cup here in Singapore to look forward to in December.”

 

SINGAPORE VS SRI LANKA (Grand Final)

And so the climax of the event: the final of the Asian Championships. Singapore were victorious over Sri Lanka in 2012 by a single point, and the same margin went in the Lankan’s favour three years prior, so the stage was set for a duel not to be missed, where every pass was going to count.

The crowds roared and the adrenaline on-court was palpable as the first quarter began goal-for-goal before a few missed chances for the hosts and Tharjini Sivalignam on form in the circle for Sri Lanka gave them a four-point advantage (8-13).

In the second quarter, Sivalingam unusually missed some chances, as Singapore’s defensive pairing of Lin Qingyi and Chen Li Li worked tirelessly to keep her out of the action. At the other end, Charmaine Soh and Chen Huifen settled into their game and Singapore pulled the score line back to neck and neck and pushed ahead for a 25-21 half time lead.

Premila Hirubalan was outstanding for Singapore once again, leading by example with her high intensity of play across the court. The others followed suit and the team grew with confidence in the third quarter (18-10) as Sri Lanka looked frustrated and started making increasing contact fouls as they searched for ways to regain the lead.

A tense final quarter played out (16-10) but Singapore had put in enough work in the middle phase of the match to be sure of the victory and the supporters raised the roof of the OCBC Arena when the final whistle blew at 59-41.

Coach of Singapore, Ruth Aitken expressed her joy saying, “Sri Lanka played very well at the start, especially defensively. Our shooters were very good today, they’ve been working very hard and I just told them to push through their initial nerves.

“We adopted a team defence today, you can’t expect only the circle defenders to stop Tharjini, and the pressure we put on them was outstanding. Our fitness stood us in good sted and we were able to step it up a level and increase the tempo in the final part of the match.”

Sri Lankan Coach, Yamuna Sandamali said, “Today was Singapore’s day. My shooting end and defence end were strong but today Singapore beat us in our mid court, that was disappointing for us – to see our structure break down in that area.”

Focusing now on building her team for the next competitions she said, “The younger team is going to have to practice a lot more because the don’t have the experience. They must play more international test matches, be consumed by netball all the time and increase their fitness. This championship has given our younger players the experience they need for the Netball World Cup.”

All is not lost for Sri Lanka, who will head to Sydney next year, along with Singapore to represent the Asian region in the World Cup.

And there’s more to look forward to….The international netball action this year in Singapore doesn’t end here. The Nations Cup returns from the 7-13 December. Taking on Singapore over the six days of competition will be Botswana, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Republic of Ireland and Samoa. A world-class line up that will showcase the diversity of netball styles around the world and providing the host with important top-level competition ahead of the SEA Games and World Cup in 2015.

 

OVERALL STANDINGS:

1st: Singapore

2nd: Sri Lanka

3rd: Malaysia

4th: Hong Kong

5th: Chinese Taipei

6th: India

7th: Brunei

8th: Japan

9th: Myanmar

10th: Vietnam

 

RESULTS

14 SEPT:

Match 26: BRUNEI 44-37 JAPAN (HT 17-19)

Match 27: INDIA 44-66 CHINESE TAIPEI (HT 25-32)

Match 28: MALAYSIA 50-39 HONG KONG (HT 23-15)

Match 29: SINGAPORE 59-41 SRI LANKA (HT 25-21)

13 SEPT:

Match 21: INDIA 58-56 BRUNEI (HT 22-21) (After Extra Time)

Match 22: CHINESE TAIPEI 54-24 JAPAN (HT 25-10)

Match 23: SINGAPORE 46-39 MALAYSIA (HT 26-18)

Match 24: SRI LANKA 57-42 HONG KONG (HT 24-23)

Match 25: VIETNAM 26-61 MYANMAR (HT 14-31)

 

11 SEPT:

Match 17: CHINESE TAIPEI 60-21 MYANMAR (HT 28-14)

Match 18: JAPAN 54-23 VIETNAM (HT 22-11)

Match 19: SRI LANKA 66-62 MALAYSIA (HT 33-31)

Match 20: SINGAPORE 20-73 INDIA (HT 13-28)

 

10 SEPT:

Match 13: MALAYSIA 87-20 MYANMAR (HT 43-11)

Match 14: VIETNAM 32-56 INDIA (HT 14-28)

Match 15: BRUNEI 25-78 SRI LANKA (HT 9-40)

Match 16: SINGAPORE 63-28 HONG KONG (HT 28-17)

 

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)

 

World Rankings (as of 25-08-14)

Singapore – 18

Malaysia – 20

Sri Lanka – 24

Hong Kong – 25

 

All other competing nations are currently unranked.