Singapore’s Charmaine Soh in action during the World Netball Championships earlier in the year. She was part of the 21&U squad which toured the UK. (Photo © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports file photo)
The Singapore national 21 and Under netball squad beat four out of six Welsh and Irish age-group teams on their recent training tour to the United Kingdom.
During their 10-day trip, the squad of 12 players battled three age-group teams — the U17s, U21As & U21Bs –- coming away with three wins from three.
They had a slow start in their opening match against the U17 side, a little over-excited from the occasion and over-thinking each move but they settled into their rhythm by the second quarter and held a comfortable 35-9 lead at the break.
They went on to win 68-20 with some strong attacking moves that they took forward into their two following matches against their U21 opposition. They beat their ‘B’ team 45-27 and the ‘A’ team 53-37.
Across in Wales, they played a tougher U21 team twice and the U19 team in between. The Singapore squad went down 34-49 in their first match against the U21 team but bounced back to defeat the U19s 43-39. This boosted their confidence and they went out firing in their final match of the tour and second against the U21s, losing by only six goals (40-46).
Commenting on the importance of this experience for the girls, National Coach Kate Carpenter said, “One of the challenges of the FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup is the lack of international match practice prior to the tournament. It’s very hard to simulate the demands of competition in a training only environment. This tour has been extremely valuable for the 21&U athletes and especially those that will make the Nations Cup team.”
Selection for the Nations Cup squad will be announced on November 18th.
From December 5th to 11th, six nations will battle it out at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall for the sixth edition of the Netball Nations Cup.
Jean Ng and Lin Qingyi are co-captains of the national squad.
21&U Squad
1. Cassandra Soh
2. Charmaine Soh (Vice Captain)
3. Yu Meiling
4. Farah Sakina
5. Nurual Baizura (Captain)
6. Shelby Koh
7. Suhailah Kariman
8. Kwok Shuyi
9. Cheryl Ann Lee
10. Sharon Wong
11. Koh Hin Ann
12. Melody Teo
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