Kimberly Lim of Singapore reaches out for the pass against South Africa. (Photo 1 courtesy of Netball Singapore)

Kimberly Lim of Singapore reaches out for the pass against South Africa. (Photo 1 courtesy of Netball Singapore)

Sydney Olympic Park, Saturday, August 8, 2015 — Singapore lost 69-21 to World number 5 South Africa on day two of the Netball World Cup (NWC) 2015. The result leaves Singapore in third place in Pool C.

Singapore’s NWC debutants, Shelby Koh, Pamela Liew, Olivia Flanagan, and Yu Mei Ling, had their chance on court as Singapore rotated and fielded all players.

Singapore named an unchanged line-up after the win against Sri Lanka yesterday. They began their match brightly and matched the South Africa Spar Proteas for the first 5 minutes. However, the Spar Proteas found the rhythm in attack and sank five successive goals in the last few minutes of the first quarter to lead 15-8.

The first three minutes of the second quarter saw several turnovers from both teams. The competition was close until the South Africans had a six-goal streak in the seventh minute.

Singapore called for an injury time-out and introduced Yu Mei Ling as a Goal Shooter and Olivia Flanagan as Wing Defence. Chen Huifen moved to the Wing Attack position to support the shooting duo of Yu and Charmaine Soh.

Still, Singapore couldn’t find a good solution as the players struggled to get past the strong South African defenders and were forced into taking long-range shots. The half time ended 33-13 to South Africa.

Shelby Koh came on as Centre in the third quarter and the match-up was similar to the earlier quarters with Singapore starting well. Soh converted two consecutive long-range shots, much to the delight of the 60-plus Singapore fans.

However, once the Spar Proteas picked up their momentum, they were hard to contain. The South Africans were quick in the attack and played a very fast-paced and physical game.

They used their height advantage to full effect with some high balls proving effective under the ring. The Spar Proteas’ tight defence also forced Singapore into some unforced errors and stray passes. The third quarter finished 51-19 to South Africa.

Singapore’s Pamela Liew got her first NWC cap in the last quarter of the game as she came on as Goal Attack. Singapore struggled in the fourth quarter as the Spar Proteas showed why they are world number 5 as they put together a 12-goal streak. It was 10 minutes into the quarter before Singapore registered their first goal. Singapore lost the quarter 18-2 and the match 69-21.

“I felt our team fought really hard and gave our opponent a good fight. We lost to the world number 6 team but that did not dampen our spirit. We will fight harder tomorrow,“ said Soh, the only player who played all four quarters of the match.

Singapore Head Coach Ruth Aitken said of the team’s performance, “11 ranking points made a difference. I thought it was a huge challenge and the girls struggled at times to cope with the bigger bodies and faster pace. I thought we had flashes of putting some stuff together but we just couldn’t sustain it.

“Every place on court that we had was under pressure, and South Africa has done a very good job at that and our mistakes come as a result of that. We have to be able to execute our game cleaner under a lot more pressure.”

On the positives from the match, Aitken said, “It was great we had all our players on court and you need to do that in the competition early if you want to use them at the later stages. All 12 players experienced that and they could share in the good and the bad.“

On Singapore’s performance, South Africa head coach Norma Plummer commented, “I think Ruth has done a good job with Singapore. I thought the Wing Attack (Kimberly Lim) is really fine and she could hit the circle. I thought she was really good. And the Goal Attack (Charmaine Soh) was really good with her shots.”

Singapore will have another tough match tomorrow as they meet world number 5, the Malawi Queens, at the 16,000-seater Allphones Arena in the Sydney Olympic Park. Malawi defeated Sri Lanka 101-18 in the other Pool C result today.

On how Singapore can improve for the next match, Soh said, “We should focus on what we do best and definitely fall back to basics. Keep up the good work we have been doing and work harder on things we should improve on.”

Scoring by Quarter
South Africa vs Singapore
1st Q: 15-8
2nd Q: 33-13 (18-5)
3rd Q: 51-19 (18-6)
4th Q: 69-21 (18-2)
 
Shooting Accuracy
South Africa
Lenize Potgieter – 39/45 (87%)
Elsje du Plessis – 19/27 (70%)
Maryka Holtzhausen – 11/14 (79%)

Singapore
Charmaine Soh – 13/21 (62%)
Chen Huifen – 4/6 (67%)
Yu Mei Ling – 4/6 (67%)
Pamela Liew – 0/3 (0%)

Singapore Starting Lineup
Charmaine Soh (GS), Chen Huifen (GA), Kimberly Lim (WA), Nurul Baizura (C), Premila Hirubalan (WD), Lin QIngyi (GD), Chen Li Li (GK)

South Africa Starting Lineup
Lenize Potgeiter (GS), Elsie du Plessis (GA), Bongiwe Msomi (WA), Izette Lubbe (C), Precious Mthembu (WD), Rochelle Lawson (GD), Phumza Maweni (GK)