S'pore netball team draw 35-35 with Malaysia
Malaysia might have registered the biggest win so far in the tournament, beating the Philippines by 101 goals yesterday, but today's 35-35 draw with Singapore was by far their most significant result of the South-east Asia (SEA) Games netball tournament.
Ruth Aitken's Singapore women held the lead for three-quarters of the game, but were pegged back by a resolute Malaysian side who somehow managed to claw their way back from a six-goal deficit in the final period.
The match at the OCBC Arena looked like a dress rehearsal for the final on June 7, and it was the Malaysians who appeared to come off this encounter with the psychological advantage.
Shooter Charmaine Soh's hot hands inside the circle did the damage on one end of the court in the first three-quarters, but they went cold in the fourth with goal attack Chen Huifen also unable to convert the several opportunities that fell to the hosts.
Wily veteran Premila Hirubalan turned in a gargantuan performance at the other end to frustrate the Malaysians, but in her 100th appearance for the Republic, she did not derive much joy from the result.
Earlier in the day, Myanmar beat the Philippines 56-31, while Thailand edged past Brunei 45-40.
Read the full report in our print edition on June 3.
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