S'pore Lose But Upbeat

Netballers' execution in defeat by Namibia bodes well for Nations Cup and SEA Games

- Kimberly Kwek

Despite falling short of a title in their first international outing of the year, the Singapore Vandas took heart from their United Arab Emirates (UAE) Netball Cup campaign, which ended in a 62-53 loss to Namibia in the final on June 21.

This was the first tournament under new head coach Tara Steel, who was appointed in March, and offered several positives as world No. 26 Singapore look to build towards a pivotal year that includes November's Singlife Nations Cup and the SEA Games in Thailand in December.

Steel said: "The final outcome was disappointing because we weren't at our best today but all credit to Namibia.

"But I'm really happy with the fact that we were in a top-two final.

"We had a really strong week in terms of our execution in games consistently and still searching for a full 60-minute performance and we still didn't hit that today, but it bodes well in terms of SEA Games and our own Nations Cup in Singapore."