Three new faces in national netball squad
Three new faces will be part of the 14-strong national netball squad travelling to Northern Ireland tonight for a week-long training tour, in preparation for August's South-east Asia (SEA) Games.
From the 24-strong training squad announced after the Netball Super League final in April, interim national coach Yeo Mee Hong has selected shooters Jocelyn Ng, Rima Yanti and Toh Kai Wei for the tour, where they will play against Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Barbados in a quadrangular tournament.
Of the trio, only Ng, 24, is capped at the international level. She made her debut against Hong Kong in February.
Yeo said: "Kai Wei played very well in the Netball Super League and impressed the selectors with her movement, consistency and shooting accuracy; Rima has been a training partner with us since last year and is a pretty consistent goal shooter, she works well with Charmaine (Soh) and Jocelyn.
"Jocelyn has impressed us with her speed, runs and combinations with the goal shooters, as well as her work rate."
Ng, an executive at Deloitte Singapore, told The New Paper last week that she will be looking to up her game during the training tour, after which the final 12 players for the SEA Games will be selected.
Ng said: "I don't think that (my performance at the selections in May) was my best. The tour is going to be my only chance for SEA Games selections and I hope to do really well in it and show what I can do."
Co-vice-captain Charmaine Soh said the new players have brought a new burst of energy to the squad.
The 27-year-old said: "The more experienced players (such as Micky Lin, Premila Hirubalan and Chen Huifen) may have left, but this new batch of players are always very energetic, very positive and always running about."
Both Soh and Ng said the team are gelling well and spirits are high.
Ng said: "For two or three weeks already, the shooters have been waking up earlier to train at the OCBC Arena before going to work, but we've also had middies (mid-courters) and defenders coming in to join us so that they can help us.
"They are there for us and I am really happy to see this initiative by my teammates."
The final 12 players, to be selected at the end of the month, will go to New Zealand for a training trip next month, where they will link up with former national coach Ruth Aitken.
The preparation will culminate in August, where the defending champions will seek to retain their gold medal.
But a strong Malaysia side will stand in the way of the Singaporeans; Malaysia lost the gold-medal match 46-43 in 2015, but won the Asian Netball Championship last year. Singapore finished third.
THE SQUAD
Charmaine Soh, Cassandra Soh, Jocelyn Ng, Rima Yanti, Toh Kai Wei, Nurul Baizura, Kimberly Lim, Zhang Ailin, Vanessa Lee, Parveen Nair, Chen Lili, Nur Aqilah Andin, Shina Teo, Melody Teo.
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