The Singapore Vandas began their Singlife Nations Cup campaign in style, powering past tournament debutantes the Isle of Man 61–37 at the OCBC Arena on Sunday.
Supported by a lively home crowd of over 1,800, the world No. 22 side quickly found their rhythm after a balanced first quarter, extending their lead to 30–20 at half-time before securing a commanding victory.
Singapore midfielder Rachel Ling was glad to come away with the opening win as a confidence boost for the rest of the tournament.
“It’s always good to start with a strong win. We came into this with confidence and a bit of nerves. But nerves are always good because it means that we care about the game. Just knowing that we’re at home gives us a lot of confidence, and all we need to do is play our game and play happy netball. The Isle of Man really gave us a run for our money, especially in the first quarter. They kept pushing in every quarter, and kudos to them for giving us a great fight.
“While we played well, we can still focus on giving short, sharp balls. Some of the balls were a bit out of control, so we need to steady ourselves a bit more tomorrow and keep peaking towards the end goal, which is the final.”
The defence, led by goalkeeper Reena Divya, clamped down on the Isle of Man attackers and forced multiple turnovers, while the shooters combined for an overall 88 per cent conversion rate compared to the Manx’s 66 per cent.
Singapore head coach Tara Steel was pleased with her team’s commanding win and credited the partisan home crowd for the added boost of energy.
“There was some nervous energy out there, and the play was a little bit disrupted at times, but overall I’m happy with our execution. We did a good job in some of our individual match-ups and took control of the game early. We pushed on in each quarter and we were fairly consistent, but still, (there’s) lots to work on before the future games.
“The crowd was amazing, and it’s very nice to have that home advantage and, I guess, the eighth member of the team on court. (We) talked to the athletes about not being distracted by it, but really embracing it and using it as energy to help push us when we get a bit tired. It’s really exciting to host an event like this, and I look forward to the rest of the week.”
Elsewhere on opening day, Papua New Guinea edged Malaysia 56–53 in a tense encounter that went down to the wire, while defending champions Kenya proved too strong for Singapore A, winning 57–24.
The Singlife Nations Cup continues tomorrow with Singapore taking on Papua New Guinea at 7pm at the OCBC Arena.
