Contributed by Lorna Campbell/Netball Singapore
Singapore (red) in action against Malaysia in the 2011 edition of the Nations Cup. (Photo courtesy of Lorna Campbell)
Singapore, Monday, October 22, 2012 — From December 2nd to 8th, Singapore will once again see a frenzy of international netballing action when the seventh edition of the Nations Cup takes place at Toa Payoh Sports Hall.
With an eclectic line-up of nations competing, hosts Singapore will have a challenging week adapting to a range of playing styles if they are to continue their fine form from their victory at the Asian Championships in August and reclaim the trophy they last won in 2007.
Battling it out for the trophy this year will be teams from Africa, Asia and Europe. Sri Lanka and Malaysia will provide the local rivalry, with the former looking for revenge after losing their Asian Champions crown on home soil to Singapore in August.
Namibia return for their third appearance — they finished fourth in 2011 between Malaysia (3rd) and Sri Lanka (5th), and will be looking to improve on their standing with a few of their players having played in the FairPrice Foundation Netball Super League here last season.
Tanzania competed in the 2010 Nations Cup, finishing third, and they are now ranked 19th in the world — just one position behind Singapore — so they are expected to be real title contenders this year.
New to the fold this year is the Republic of Ireland. Their neighbours – Northern Ireland – won the Nations Cup back in 2009 and have gone on to climb the world rankings to their current position of 11th. The Republic of Ireland will be keen to follow in their steps through this important international match exposure as they play most of their games against the home nations of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their highest achievement in the sport so far was a 10th position in the 1991 World Championships.
Singapore finished second to world number seven Fiji in 2011 and since then havw completed a tour to the pacific islanders in July and then reclaimed the Asian Championship in Sri Lanka in August to become the highest ranking team in Asia once again (18th). The national team will be announced in the coming weeks with the aim of maintaining their strong position in the region and finishing the year with some more silverware.
Jessica Tan is looking forward to her first Nations Cup as President of Netball Singapore. She said: “I expect this year’s Nations Cup to be another fantastic week of fierce competition and I am looking forward to welcoming the visiting teams to our shores in December. I hope the spectators get behind the local girls to help them continue their fine form this year.”
It is important to note that the World Rankings in netball are based on the number of International and Regional matches each country plays, so they are not always a true reflection of each team’s strength and ability. Ireland is a good example of this as they have only eight ranking matches while Tanzania have recorded 27 matches.
Current World Rankings (as of Sept 26th)
Malaysia — 25th
Namibia – 26th
Republic of Ireland — 29th
Singapore – 18th
Sri Lanka – 23rd
Tanzania – 19th
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