KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — Malaysia wrapped up their campaign in third place at the 2018 Asian Netball Championship by defeating Hong Kong 52-46 in the third/fourth classification match at the Singapore Sports Hub, today.
The result saw the national side repeating the same feat in five previous editions – 1989 (India), 2001 and 2012 (Sri Lanka), 2009 (Malaysia) and 2014 in Singapore.
In today’s action, Hong Kong took a slim 17-13 lead in the first quarter with Kate Jolly, Natassia Brakenridge and Rebecca Miller putting their names on the score sheet for the opponents.
Malaysian head coach, Choo Kon Lee decided to made three substitutions by bringing in Goal Shooter An Najwa Azizan, Wing Attacker Pow Mei Foong and Goal Defender Nur Lailatulladhwiyah Che Yahaya to reduce the deficit, but Hong Kong were superior, taking a 25-24 lead in the second quarter of the match.
Hong Kong continued to take a 36-35 lead in the third quarter, but Malaysia bounced back brilliantly to secure a 52-46 in the final quarter of the match.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Lee was full of praise of her charges for putting up a splendid performance in today’s match and proud of her team’s performance to secure a third place finish in the biennial tournament.
“They played really very hard today to cover up for the semi-final loss against Singapore, yesterday. The best they can do is to get the third placing instead of getting the fourth,” Lee was quoted as saying in a statement issued by Netball Singapore.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka remained undefeated in the tournament en route to clinch their fifth Asian Netball title by edging Singapore;69-50 in the final. — Bernama
