They have done it. The Samoa national netball team has lifted the Nations’ Cup trophy on their debut at the competition, defeating the home team, Singapore, 50-41, in the final yesterday.
An elated captain, Sanita To’o, dedicated the result to Samoa and all their supporters.
“This has been amazing,” she said. “To go through unbeaten this week and come back after Singapore were leading in the first half. I am so proud of the girls.”
A full house at the O.C.B.C. Arena in Singapore turned up the volume and gave Singapore tremendous support in their fight against Samoa for the Nations. Cup title in the 2014 grand final.
Samoa had defeated Singapore 53-47 in the group stages and didn’t want to end their weak with a loss to tarnish their performance.
The match started at a frenetic pace which Singapore settled into well and it was neck and neck in the first quarter, Charmaine Soh slotting the final goal of the period to give the hosts a one point lead, 10-11.
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Chen Li Li and Lin Qingyi started the match as the defensive pairing in an attempt to combat the 192cm Samoan shooter, Monica Fuimaono, who’s been a danger all week.
Premila Hirubalan moved into the midcourt and this combination proved strong, dynamic and a challenge to the top seeds.
Samoa tried to play a straight line of attack through the centre of the court and were quick to shut down any attacks from their opposition, but Singapore were able to break through by taking advantage of forced passes and using space out wide.
As they have done all week, Charmaine Soh and Chen Huifen partnered well in the attacking circle and both kept a cool head while facing some tall and tough defence, namely Sanonu Robertson and Natalie Jones.
They took all their chances and went into the half time break with a six-point lead, 20-26.
The Pacific Islanders were not going to sit back and stop fighting so they stepped it up another gear in the third quarter taking it, 17- 6, to overtake Singapore for a 37-32 advantage with the final 15 to play.
Ang Shi Qi came on in the centre for Singapore to add some fresh legs and had another strong performance but the fatigue was setting in, feeds into the shooters were going amiss and vital chances were lost as Samoa kept slotting them in.
Singapore didn’t stop battling and lost the last quarter by only four, 13-9, for a final score of, 50-41, and a final that will go down as one of the best.
Samoa take the crown back to the Pacific Islands – it was last won by a team from Oceania in 2008, P.N.G., and Singapore settled for an impressive second place for the second year running.
“We just needed to get rid of our nerves and once we let go of that we got some confidence and were able to get our connections going,” said captain, Sanita To’o. “We didn’t want them to get such a good start but they did and we had to fight back and we finished off well.”
Hosts Singapore can be proud of their second placing after defeating two higher ranked teams in the process.
Former Silver Ferns and Singapore Coach, Ruth Aitken, was proud of their efforts.
“We lost a bit of confidence with our connections and their style of play is not something we come across often but we beat one pacific team this week and competed well with another,” she said.
“There are lots of positives to take from the week. The crowds have been fantastic and we will now get back on the horse, work a bit harder, work a bit smarter and prepare for a big year of netball next year.”
The ninth edition of the competition has been the most competitive yet and all the teams will take valuable learning’s back to their respective continents and look to build on their results for a successful 2015.
Results
FINAL STANDINGS:
1st: Samoa, 2nd: Singapore, 3rd: Botswana, 4th: Malaysia, 5th: Papua New Guinea, 6th: Republic of Ireland Most Valuable Player Awards: Botswana: Gosego Tsele Malaysia: Yap Suo Kuen Papua New Guinea: Lua Rikis Republic of Ireland: Niamh Murphy Samoa: Opheria Harder-Karatau Singapore: Premila Hirubalan
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