Nurul Baizura (Singapore, WD) fights with India’s WA for possession of the ball in the 2010 edition of the tournament. Nurul is in the squad for this year’s tournament. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Monday, November 21, 2011 — Netball Singapore announced the squad that will take part in the FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup 2011 which is scheduled for December 5th to 11th at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall.
Beginning a new four-year cycle as always after a world championship, the selectors have picked a team of 12 with a strong focus on players from the 21 & Under squad. Retirements after a major competition gives Netball Singapore the opportunity to invest in their talented youth.
Several of the 21 & U girls that have been selected for the senior squad have many years of playing experience behind them but lack the experience of playing at national level, so the Nations Cup will be a real test for them and an opportunity to raise their game.
National Coach, Kate Carpenter said: “These players have shown the potential to succeed at the national level for Singapore. However potential doesn’t necessarily guarantee success so these girls will need to be working hard to earn court time.”
The squad will be co-captained this year by Jean Ng, the team captain at the recent Mission Foods World Netball Championships 2011 (WNC), and Lin Qingyi, who was the vice-captain in July.
Jean Ng said: “The Nations Cup marks the start of a new four year build up in preparation for the next World Championships in 2015. It’s an opportunity for us to “blood” new players and give them a chance to match up against two Asian teams ahead of next year’s Asian Championships, and against Fiji it will be a chance to try and avenge the loss against them in July. With a good mix of experience and youth talent, I’m proud and privileged to once again lead this campaign with my co-captain Lin Qingyi.”
The strength of the Singapore team has always come from the defensive line and this will be the case once again as Premila Hirubalan and Chen Li Li join Ng and Lin to add options at the back of the court.
The centre court also includes some experienced players such as 21&U Captain Nurula Baizura, who has just returned from a successful tour to the UK, and Vanessa Lee, who has 44 international caps to her name.
The attacking positions and combinations of WA, GA and GS will be relatively untried and untested as the squad has only been together since September. Veteran Chen Huifen will lead the group that includes Charmaine Soh, who made her debut for Singapore at the WNC 2011.
Based on the current world rankings, Singapore (21st) sits ahead of local rivals Malaysia (23rd) and African visitors Namibia (24th) with Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka just ahead on paper (17th and 18th respectively). Fiji are currently the 10th ranked team in the world but as with most squads, they are likely to field a different squad to that which appeared in Singapore for WNC so the competition is wide open for any nation to grab top honours.
Namibia now have the experience from their appearance at the Nations Cup in 2010 and will be better prepared for next month’s competition.
The hosts have played against all the nations previously but the challenge for the new players will come in adapting to the differing styles of play that Namibia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea adopt as compared with the Asian nations.
A strong crowd of home support will be important for Singapore as they will face a challenging week of competition in what will be their first national team outing since hosting the WNC in July.
Tickets are on sale now at Netball Singapore.
National Squad for FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup 2011
Cassandra Soh
Charmaine Soh
Yu Meiling
Chen Huifen
Charlene Porima
Nurul Baizura
Vanessa Lee
Shelby Koh
Premila Hirubalan
Jean Ng (Co-Captain)
Lin Qingyi (Co-Captain)
Chen Li Li
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