Netball Super League tips off for the season

Story and pictures by Leslie Tan. With additional pictures by Tan Huey Ying.

Aruna Santhappan of Arowanas (in black) impressed with her shooting in her team’s 51-31 win over the Vipers. (Photo © Tan Huey Ying/Red Sports)

Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Saturday, March 29, 2008 – The Arowanas and Marlins showed they were favourites for the Netball Super League title with two straight wins after the opening two rounds at Toa Payoh Sports Hall last weekend.

After the opening ceremony, the Arowanas got down to business with a with a comprehensive 51-31 win over the Vipers. The Vipers, with crowd favourite national player Jean Ng in their ranks, kept within striking distance against the physically taller Arowanas but could not overhaul them. The superiority of the Arowanas was underlined by the outstanding shooting of 21-year-old Aruna Santhappan, a member of the Malaysian national team since 2005.

In the second game, the Mannas, coached by last year’s Most Valuable Coach, Ms Lee Min Li, beat the Sharks 42-31. It was a close game for the most part, but the Mannas, with up and coming national players Yasmin Ho, Grace Sim, Lin Qing Yi and Serene Lim, never allowed the Sharks to draw level. The Sharks are made up of the National 21 and Under players who will eventually form the team that will take part in the Asian Youth Netball Championship later this year.

The final game of the day saw last year’s NSL winners, the Marlins, take on the Stingrays. Marlins, with 2007 World Championship players Premila Hirubalan and Vanessa Lee, were comfortable 42-31 winners over the Stingrays. The game saw the return of former national palyer Gaby Nancy-Hochbaum Francis in Stingray colours after having given birth to three children.

In Round 2 games played the next day, Arowanas continued their winning streak with a 56-29 win over the Sharks, the Vipers lost their second in a row when they went down 37-43 to the Stingrays, and the Marlins also won their second in a row with a 48-20 win over the Mannas.

The highlight of this weekend’s games is the match between the Arowanas and Marlins on Sunday, April 6 at Bedok Sports Hall.

For more details, please visit the Netball Singapore site.

Povan of Vipers passes out to a teammate. Povan featured for the Singapore Sports School in the B Division last year. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Player-coach Joanne Loo of the Vipers eludes an interception by an Arowana player. Joanne, a former national player, was the Most Valuable Coach for 2007. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Sharks’ Centre Yi Lun (in green) just misses intercepting a pass to the Mannas’ Wing Attack. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Players descend on the loose ball. The Sharks are made up of players from the 21 and Under national squad. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Shark’s Wing Defence (in green) competes with the Mannas’ Wing Attack for the ball. Sharks went down 33-40 in the game. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Marlins’ Goal Shooter goes for goal. Marlins won last year’s edition of the Netball Super League. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Stingrays’ Gaby Nancy-Hochbaum Francis (in purple, left) tussles with Marlins’ Vanessa Lee for the ball. Gaby, a former national player, was making a comeback after giving birth to three children. (Photo © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)

Marlins’ Goal Keeper Mei Xin jumps high to defend against Stingrays’ Goal Shooter. Marlins eventually won the game 42-31. (Photo © Tan Huey Ying/Red Sports)

N.B. If you know the names of the players featured, please let us know the names in the comments section and we’ll update the captions. Thanks.