Story by Colin Tung. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports

Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships Singapore vs Sri Lanka

It was literally a gigantic battle for Singapore’s Goal Keeper, Chen Lili, in the final. Even at 1.96 metres tall, her height was no match for the 2.06m Tharjini Sivalingam (GS) of Sri Lanka but Lili put in a valiant display and managed to intercept a few passes. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

OCBC Arena, Sunday, September 13, 2014 — Throughout the Asian Netball Championships, the Singapore team had relied upon Charmaine Soh (GS) and Chen Huifen (GA) to score the goals that had got them into the final and they — sometimes rotated with Natalie Long and Melissa Teo — have so far not failed.

Against Sri Lanka in the final, after a first quarter that saw Charmaine and Huifen each miss half their shots for Singapore to trail heading into an interval for the first time in the tournament, their team was not about to give up on them.

The pair turned on their games as Singapore recovered from being 8-12 down in the opening quarter to hit back and win a second straight Asian Netball Championship 59–41.

Premila Hirubalan (GD), playing in her fourth Asian Netball Championship final and the most senior player in the team, said, “The shooters missed a few shots in the first quarter, we have to admit that. But we still had faith in them. We just said, ‘It’s ok, we have three more quarters. We know you can do it. You have done it many, many times before.

“Let’s just pick ourselves up and we’ll give you more balls, as many balls as you need, and put it in. And when Charmaine sunk that first goal in that second quarter, we knew that’s it, she’s back. And, from then, she shot every single shot from practically just inside the circle. Who can shoot like that? She was fantastic.”

Singapore coach, Ruth Aitken, put the opening quarter struggles down to nerves. Commenting on Charmaine, she said, “She should just trust herself. Shooting’s all about the feel, and she had to just get connected with herself instead of worrying about anything else. She’s got an amazing shot and, when she started putting those long ones in, it was just all on. She’s very special.”

Sri Lanka’s 2.06 metres-tall Tharjini Sivalingam (GS) headed into the final as the tournament top scorer with 267 goals — 106 more than Malaysia’s Norashikin, the next highest scorer, and 107 more than Singapore’s Charmaine, the third-highest.

Sri Lanka’s strategy was plain to see, and it was to feed balls over the top of Singapore’s defence to their main goal outlet, Tharjini, whose 45 goal attempts in the game accounted for all but two of her team’s attempts.

But Singapore’s coordinated and spirited defence limited supply to Tharjini and provided the platform for the attack to not only haul Singapore back into the game but establish the team firmly in the lead with 35 goals from 37 attempts over the second and third quarters.

Singapore’s confidence was back and, at one point in the third quarter with under five minutes to play, Charmaine confirmed it, making three consecutive long shots to give Singapore a 37-27 10-point lead.

“We really had to win this game badly so a lot of thoughts keep going through my mind,” said Charmaine. “We were down the first quarter but the whole team just started encouraging each other and tried to build the confidence in me. So when I went into the second quarter, I just did not think of anything (but) just my teammates. They’re just like my sisters, my family. So, every shot that I take, I will think of them … I’ve to put (the shots) in for them so they don’t have to work so hard.”

When asked what her strategy was for her shooting game, she explained, “I just turn, catch the ball, look at the post, breathe, and shoot. The more you think, the more complicated it gets.”

Charmaine also made the final basket of the quarter for Singapore to bring into the fourth quarter a comfortable 43–31 lead, bigger than they had at the same point in the semi-final against Malaysia and enough for Chen Lili (GK) to wonder if Premila would consider holding back retirement from the sport.

The 32-year-old Premila said, “At the end of the third quarter, Lili said to me, ‘So, Prem, since we’re winning, are you playing World Champs next year?’ I said, ‘Lili, win for me this game first then we’ll talk about it later on!'”

There was sufficient breathing room for Singapore to ensure Charmaine and Huifen’s six misses from a total 22 attempts in the fourth quarter were not so keenly felt, as Singapore saw out the game 59–41 winners to head into next year’s Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia, as Asian champions.

Despite the significantly bigger margin of win than that in 2012, when Singapore beat the same opponents 48-47, team captain, Lin Qingyi said, “One point is a win. 12 points is a win. We’re just really happy that we got off with a win today.”

Singapore coach, Ruth Aitken, who took up post last August, was visibly happy with her first major title with the team. She said, “You don’t win against Sri Lanka like that without the whole group playing well. I just think the teamwork was fantastic. They’ve worked really hard, they really deserve it.”

In the third-place playoff, Malaysia beat Hong Kong 50–39.

Scores by Quarter
Singapore vs Sri Lanka
1st Quarter: 8-12
2nd Quarter: 17-9 (25-21)
3rd Quarter: 18-10 (43-31)
4th Quarter: 16-10 (59-41)

Singapore Roster
Ang Shi Qi, Anna Soo, Charmaine Soh (GS), Chen Huifen (GA), Chen Lili (GK), Kimberly Lim (WA), Lin Qingyi (GD), Melissa Teo, Natalie Long, Nur Aqilah Afiqah Andin, Nurul Baizura (C, co vice-captain), Premila Hirubalan (WD)

Sri Lanka Roster
Shashika Samarasinghe (GA, captain), Gayani Dissanayake (GK, vice-captain), Tharjini Sivalingam (GS), Chathurangi Jayasooriya (GD), Kumarine Silva (WD), Mareesha Fernando (WA), Thisala Algama, Deepika Abeykoon (C), Darshika Abeywicrama, Nauchalee Rajapakse, Thilini Waththegedara, Kanchana Jayaweera

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

Related Stories
Singapore beat Japan 67–13 in opener
Singapore beat Vietnam 84–8 for second straight win
Singapore ease to 63–28 win over Hong Kong to virtually seal semi-final spot
Singapore’s 73–20 win over India sets up semi-final clash with Malaysia
Defending champions Singapore through to final with 46–39 win over Malaysia
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