Nurul Baizura and Olivia Flanagan of Singapore defend against Barbados. (Photo courtesy of Netball Singapore)
Sydney, Saturday, August 15, 2015 — Singapore put in a fine performance despite going down 39-56 to world number 9 Barbados at the 2015 Netball World Cup.
This win comes after a disappointing 36-67 loss to Zambia yesterday. Singapore are now left with a final playoff game to finish 15th, the same position that was achieved at the last World Cup. Singapore will play the loser of the playoff match between Zambia and Sri Lanka.
Barbados, who had eight returning players from the 2011 edition, were competing in their eighth World Cup.
Singapore settled early in the game. The defenders had fewer turnovers and the feeding to the shooters was more precise. The shooters were able to find space within the tight circle and Charmaine Soh shot a high of 92 percent, missing only one shot from 12 attempts. The first quarter ended 15-12 to Barbados.
Singapore started the second quarter by forcing two successive turnovers through Micky Lin and Premila Hirubalan but missed passes and bad hands saw the girls fail to capitalise on the turnovers.
Barbados soon gained confidence in their play and under the post and had five turnovers that they successfully converted, widening the gap to 11 goals to lead 30-19 at half time.
Barbados raised the tempo of the play in the second half. There was increased pressure on Singapore, particularly from midcourt to the shooting circle and the goal difference widened to 17 goals. Olivia Flanagan and Shelby Koh were introduced midway through the quarter after an injury time-out by Ang Shiqi.
The changes worked well as Singapore finished the quarter strongly, almost matching their opponents goal for goal, to trail Barbados by eight goals (42-30). Barbados outscored Singapore 14-9 in the final quarter to pull away and win 56-39.
Despite losing, Singapore head coach Ruth Aitken took heart from the performance today, “They did well. I was really pleased. Obviously we were disappointed yesterday but I thought the fighting spirit was great today.”
On the breakdown during the second quarter, Aitken said, “It’s hard to sustain for all the time. There was definitely different interpretation from the umpire from one end to the other and we got really hammered defensively in terms of the penalty calls in the second quarter which always makes it hard as they (Barbados) are pretty good shots most of the times. We probably just lost our flow a little bit on attack.”
“I thought the changes came on really well (in the 3rd quarter). I thought Shelby came on really well and I thought Bai (Nurul Baizura) had a much better game today. She was more dominant and then it was good to get the other two shooters in to keep them in touch just in case. Because it’s horrible being a shooter and not play everyday. You lose touch. I thought there was a lot to take out but if I could replay the 2nd quarter that will be nice,“ added Aitken.
Singapore Vice captain Nurul Baizura said of their performance, “I thought our performance wasn’t too bad. We started off quite well but I thought we drifted a bit especially the attacking part that we didn’t convert and went on a slump. We picked up the game (in the 3rd quarter) but it was a little bit too late.
“We had some change of line-ups and I thought the fresh legs were really great when they come on and they were ready to get into the game. I think Pam (Pamela) and Mei (Mei Ling) did very well. We really tried but hard luck. They were within reach but we didn’t capitalised on their mistakes and we had some errors too.”
On whether she is feeling fatigued with the final placing match tomorrow, Baizura said, “Tired is an understatement. Everyone is. It is the nature of the game. We are here to play competitive netball. We will go all out (for tomorrow’s game). There’s nothing to lose.”
“It’s all on. It’s back to square one and we have came full circle which is quite not where we wanted to be but it is where it is so we just have to finish well tomorrow,” added Aitken.
Singapore missed out on the chance to improve their 15th position from the last edition and will have to be contended with fighting for the same position tomorrow, 10.50am (8.50am Singapore time) at the Netball Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia. Singapore will play the loser of the playoff match at 5.15pm (3.15pm Singapore time) today between Zambia and Sri Lanka.
New Zealand will match up against England in the first semi-final while Jamaica will play Australia in the other.
Singapore Starting Lineup
Charmaine Soh (GS)
Chen Huifen (GA)
Kimberly Lim (WA)
Nurul Baizura (C)
Premila Hirubalan (WD)
Micky Lin Qingyi (GD)
Chen Li Li (GK)
Barbados Starting Lineup
Faye Sealy (GS)
Nikita Piggott (GA)
Samantha Browne (WA)
Latonia Blackman (C)
Shanice Rock (WD)
Rhe-Ann Niles (GD)
Shonette Azore-Bruce (GK)
Scoring by Quarter
Barbados vs Singapore
1st Q: 15-12
2nd Q: 30-19 (15-8)
3rd Q: 42-30 (12-11)
4th Q: 56-39 (14-9)
Shooting Accuracy
Barbados
Overall – 84%
Faye Sealy – 43/49 (88%)
Nikita Piggott – 12/15 (80%)
Sheniqua Thomas – 1/3 (33%)
Singapore
Overall – 80%
Charmaine Soh – 28/34 (82%)
Chen Huifen – 7/10 (70%)
Yu Mei Ling – 1/1 (100%)
Pamela Liew – 3/4 (75%)
Singapore – Past Results
Preliminary Round (Pool C)
Singapore 56 Sri Lanka 43
South Africa 69 Singapore 21
Malawi 75 Singapore 31
Qualification Round (Pool G)
Samoa 46 Singapore 39
Trinidad and Tobago 75 Singapore 32
Singapore 36 Zambia 67
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