THE NEW PAPER Thursday, June 2 2011 ●
Netball
Sports LIM SAY HENG sayheng@sph.com.sg
F
ANS CAN expect a much tougher competition field at the Mission Foods World Netball Championships in Singapore next month. World champions Australia’s main rivals – New Zealand, England and Jamaica – have improved since the last championships in 2007, according to Australia coach Norma Plummer. The irony? Australia had a major hand in raising the standards of their rivals in recent years via their domestic ANZ Championship. The competition was formed in 2008 and comprises 10 teams – five each from Australia and New Zealand. Top English and Jamaican players such as Romelda Aiken, Sonia Mkoloma and Geva Mentor ply their trade there. “I think we’re now ‘coaching’ the rest of the world... this is added value to them,” said Plummer in a conference call yesterday morning. Asked if she’d like a repeat of the Australia-New Zealand final in 2007, she said: “Before I worry about New Zealand, I’d worry about Jamaica. We’d probably face them at the cross-over (after the group stage) and Aiken is such a weapon. “There is really no defender who can handle the height and elevation of the 1.96m Jamaican shooter, so we really have to knuckle down and deprive her of the ball before she can get hold of it to put it in the ring.”
Champions Australia expect tougher battle FYI WHAT: Mission Foods World Netball Championships WHEN: July 3-10 WHERE: Singapore Indoor Stadium WHO’S PLAYING*: Pool A – Australia (2), Samoa (9), Sri Lanka (15), N Ireland (12) Pool B – New Zealand (1), Fiji (5) Trinidad & Tobago (8), Wales (14) Pool C – Jamaica (4), S Africa (6), Singapore (19), Botswana (18) Pool D – England (3), Malawi (7), Barbados (10), Malaysia (23) Tickets between $10 and $160 are available from Sistic. For details, visit www.wnc2011.com
Early obstacle Other than New Zealand and England, Pool A opponents Samoa could be an early roadblock for the Diamonds. “They would be pretty much a New Zealand-styled team. I’m not too sure of their depth, but they are coached by Linda Vagana, a former New Zealand Silver Ferns player,” said Plummer. “They would certainly give us a very tough run. “We just have to make sure that we are able to deliver the winning combination.” The veteran coach, who led the Diamonds to victory in 2007, announced her championship squad on Monday after a four-day selection camp. Stalwarts Sharelle McMahon and Lauren Norse will miss the tournament due to injury, while Plummer has called up three uncapped players to the 12-strong squad, which she described as “versatile”.
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* World ranking in brackets.
NEW LEADER: Natalie von Bertouch will be Australia’s captain as Sharelle McMahon is injured. She said: “McMahon and Norse added a lot of speed to our forward line and to the team overall. “For the two positions of that calibre, we had to re-adjust what we were thinking and how to run the team. “We had to look at the players we have and to keep everything that complements one another.” The Australian media has described the selection as bold and surprising, with the omission of established players such as Bianca Chatfield, Madison Browne and Renae Hallinan. Ruth Aitken, coach of world No. 1 New Zealand, was also quoted yesterday as saying that the selection has forced the Silver Ferns
to revisit different strategies to counter their neighbours. But Plummer believes rookies Chelsea Pitman, Erin Bell and Sharni Layton will not be overawed, despite the lack of Test caps, and have a major part to play in Singapore.
Improvements She said: “You have New Zealand and Australian players competing week in, week out in the ANZ Championship now, where previously we would never have been playing one another during the year. “I think the bench players in this year’s competition have to be those who come off the bench and have a massive impact.
“So they might not start the game, but they might finish the game off for you.” The world champions had only a centralised training camp so far, compared to five in the lead-up to their 2007 victorious campaign. Ahead of the world championships, Australia will face New Zealand in a two-Test tour next week and will also travel to Hong Kong for a training camp. Plummer said: “In Hong Kong, we hope to be able to put the combinations together and get the understanding on court. “We are going to struggle with that when we play New Zealand... but if we put a game plan out, I think our players are intelligent enough to be able to carry it out.”
FYI
HOCKEY
Top-four target remains despite withdrawals ALI KASIM aakasim@sph.com.sg THE NATIONAL Under-18 hockey team’s hopes for this month’s Asia Cup (Junior) have been hit by three late withdrawals. The trio, Marcus Quek and Muhd Hafiz, both 17, and Al-Fateh Putra, 16, pulled out of the squad citing academic commitments. It is a hiccup for head coach Solomon Casoojee as the squad had undergone three months of preparation, including a training trip to Perth last month. The trio would have been in the final squad of 18 for the 10-team tournament at Sengkang Sports and Recreation Centre later this month. Said Casoojee: “This has set us back a fraction, I won’t deny that, but we have to get on
PICTURE COURTESY OF NETBALL AUSTRALIA
with the job in front of us.” Marcus is in his first year at Victoria Junior College, while Hafiz is in Sec 4 at Raffles Institution. Casoojee (right) added that the loss of midfielder Al-Fateh, a Sec 3 student at Sengkang Secondary School, was especially disappointing, as it left the team short on midfield options. He said: “The three players were strategically important players; players who would have been comfortably accepted in the squad. “At the moment, we are heavy on defence and light in midfield. So the final selection will be based heavily on who provides options in midfield.” Despite the hiccup, Casoojee insists they are sticking to their target of a top-four finish.
Said the South African: “We still have a job to do and I’m not going to use this as an excuse. There are still 16 or so other guys to get the job done. “We’re still focused on making the top four, ideally the top two. How big of a factor (missing three players is), we will see after the tournament. “How we deal with it will define the character of this team.” Singapore have never reached the semi-finals of the Asia Cup, finishing seventh in 2001 and sixth in 2009. This year’s tournament will be held from June 17 to 26 (See details on right). Singapore are drawn in Group A with tournament favourites Pakistan, Taiwan, Kazakhstan and Brunei, who will be the Republic’s first opponents on June 17.
WHAT: Asia Cup (Junior) WHEN: June 17-26 WHERE: Sengkang Sports and Recreation Centre TICKETS: $5 – for ages 11 to 18 $10 – for adults Free – for children under 10 years old INQUIRIES: E-mail tickets@singaporehockey.org
“We still have a job to do and I’m not going to use this as an excuse.” – National U-18 hockey coach Solomon Casoojee on the withdrawals