The Energizer National League is in full swing with the top division seeing a close battle between four teams — Bedok CSC A, adidas Sneakers Speed, Bedok Kings Reds and Nike Swoosh all have identical 3-1 win-loss records.

72 teams involving 864 players are taking part in this year’s ENL, a league organised annually by Netball Singapore.

Nike Fit won the Division 1 final last year against the National 21-and-Under team while in Division 2, the National 19&U (Post School) beat the National 19&U (School). Zenith Ace won the Club Mixed category.

In Division 1, adidas Sneakers Speed started the league on a high note. They beat Nike Swoosh 49-37 before sweeping aside defending champions Nike Fit 49-30. adidas Sneakers Speed also defeated the Extremes 41-37 for a perfect start to the tournament, but in their fourth game, they were stunned by the Bedok Kings Reds 44-39.

adidas Sneakers Speed will need to beat Bedok CSC A in their final group match to secure a spot in the final.

After falling to adidas Sneakers Speed in their opening match, Nike Swoosh recovered well to beat the Extremes and Bedok CSC A 35-34 and 50-48 respectively. In both games, Nike Swoosh had a slow start and in the match against the Extremes, they allowed their opponents to start the game with an oustanding 11-1 run. Extremes led throughout the game until the last few minutes when Nike Swoosh overturned a centre pass to bring home the 35-34 victory.

Then in their match against Bedok CSC A, they let Bedok CSC A take a comfortable lead in the first quarter. However, from second quarter onwards, it was a totally different story. Nike Swoosh came out strongly in second quarter before putting up a tight defence to pressurise Bedok CSC A in the third quarter. They only trailed by one goal entering into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter saw a see-saw affair. In the crucial minutes, Bedok CSC A committed a fatal unforced error. The centre pass was not caught in the centre third, resulting in an turnover and this mistake handed Nike Swoosh the victory, 50-48.

Nike Swoosh then registered their most comfortable victory against their sister club, Nike fit, beating them 56-46.

Nike Swoosh will need to overcome Bedok Kings Reds in their last group match to qualify for the final.

The Bedok Kings Reds also have beaten three teams and suffered one defeat. They had a great start, defeating the Extremes 33-27 in their opening bout, but suffered a setback when they lost to Bedok CSC A 33-39. However, they recovered quickly, dethroning Nike Fit 50-29 before stunning adidas Sneakers Speed, 44-39.

Another team with a 3-1 win-loss record is Bedok CSC A. They have only lost to Nike Swoosh while performing well in their other games. Bedok CSC A thrashed Extremes 63-32, overcame Bedok Kings Reds 39-33 and beat Nike Fit 51-47.

In Division 2, Speed Sprint, a team from a young club, stunned the crowd and are looking good for a shot at qualifying for the final. Speed cruised past Republic Polytechnic 39-26, stunned the powerhouse, adidas Sneakers Dash 59-30, and edged out their strongest opponent of the league, NZCC Kea 45-42.

In the other matches, adidas Sneakers Dash handed Llabten a 35-44 defeat while NZCC Kea thrashed Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Sports School 1 and Llabten 57-34, 59-37 and 60-25 respectively.

The ENL has the highest netball participation numbers in Singapore and runs May 10th to July 3rd. There are teams from competitive and social clubs, corporate companies and schools.

The final is scheduled to take place on July 3rd at the Kallang Netball Centre.

For more fixtures and results, go to: http://netball.redsports.sg/

For more information, please go to www.netball.org.sg.