Asian Netball C’ships: Singapore beat Japan 67–13 in opener

By Lim Yong Teck and Colin Tung/Red Sports

Natalie Long (GS) of Singapore shoots the ball against Japan. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

OCBC Arena, Sunday, September 7, 2014 — Defending champions and hosts Singapore defeated Japan 67–13 in the opening game of the 2014 Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships.

Charmaine Soh led the scoring for Singapore with 26 goals, with a conversion rate of 70 percent. Earning her first cap, Natalie Long chipped in with 25 goals, notching the highest conversion rate of her teammates at 78 percent.

On the defensive end, Premila Hirubalan, playing as the Goal Keeper, put in an effective shift with several interceptions.

The 1.77-metre tall Natalie, who can play as both Goal Attack and Goal Shooter, said, “My shooting could be better. I was nervous at the start but when I missed, I tried to catch the rebounds [to make up for the misses].”

Besides Natalie, the Singapore team also gave Anna Soo (Wing Defence) and Kimberly Lim (Wing Attack) their debuts.

Team captain, Lin Qingyi (Goal Defence), was pleased with the team’s performance. She said, “I think it’s a good game. We managed to get all of them (the 12 players on the team roster) on the court.”

The 29-year-old Qingyi, who notched her 71st cap with this game, added, “I’m hoping the team will not get ahead of ourselves and really take one game at a time. Obviously, that would be our goal: to be in the final, to retain our title, and to play in the world champs next year. So, one step at a time.” The top two teams from the Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships will qualify for the 2015 Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia.

Playing at a high offensive pace, Singapore had kept Japan on the back foot. To stop Singapore from claiming a second straight Asian netball title, other teams (Hong Kong, India, and Vietnam are also in the same group as Singapore and Japan) would do well to note the assessment of Japanese Goal Shooter, Sae Nakatani, “Very fast passes and good defence.”

The Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships will continue with group stage matches from Monday to Thursday, semi-finals and playoffs on Saturday, and finals next Sunday.

Scores by Quarter
Singapore vs Japan
1st quarter: 23–2
2nd quarter: 15–5 (38–7)
3rd quarter: 16–4 (54–11)
4th quarter: 13–2 (67–13)

Singapore Roster
Ang Shi Qi, Anna Soo, Charmaine Soh, Chen Huifen, Chen Lili, Kimberly Lim, Lin Qingyi, Melissa Teo, Natalie Long, Nur Aqilah Afiqah, Nurul Baizura, Premila Hirubalan

Japan Roster
Mio Akuzawa, Yoshie Arai, Yuka Kawano, Sae Nakatani, Nami Osone, Haruna Abe, Mina Chiba, Natsumi Saito, Mayu Hatori, Momoka Izumi, Kaho Kigure, Mika Kawai

For more info on the 2014 Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships, visit: http://www.netball.org.sg/netball-events/competitions-international/item/588-anc14

League Tables (updated as at Friday, September 12)

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