Netball Squad To Be Well Prepared For Singapore Tournament

By Y.P. SIVAM
metrospt@thestar.com.my,

Photos by ADAM YUNUS

COACH Choo Kon Lee has drawn up an intensive six-month training programme for the national netball squad.

The national netball team are preparing for the World Netball championship in Singapore from July 3-10.

The first phase training was held at the Sport Centre in Universiti Malaya recently.

Stretching: The girls warming up before a training session.

Team manager Datin Seri Shamsiah M. Yasin said they had invited 23 players for the week-long first phase training programme.

“But several players withdrew from the programme due to injuries and other commitments. We have a squad of 17 players and they went through the training programme diligently. We are pleased with the players’ commitment in training.

“We have initiated a training programme for the next six months.

“We will have a week-long centralised training programme until June when the final squad will be named,’’ said Shamsiah after a training session.

Malaysia earned a ticket to the world championship after finishing third in the Asian championship in Kuala Lumpur in 2009.

Briefing: Shamsiah (left) and Choo (second left) explaining the training programme to the players.

Only the top two teams — Sri Lanka and Singapore — had qualified on merit for the world championship.
Since Singapore, as host, earned an automatic spot in the championship, Malaysia were given the ticket to be part of the 16-team tournament.

Before breaking camp , after the first phase, both Shamsiah and Choo advised the players to continue training on their own.

Except for four players – S. Aruna, Siti Sri Dalimah Suhaimi, Siti Fairus Mustafa and Noor Atika Md Radzi — the other players will continue to train with the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) team.

Aruna, Noor Atika and Siti Sri Dalimah are studying at the UTM in Johor Baru and have been given a training programme to follow while Siti Fairus will train in Penang.

Choo said the players would return for the second phase on Jan 21.

“We want the players to be physically fit for the training programme which will be more intense. We will keep in touch with them on their progress regularly,’’ she said.

In the last world championship in New Zealand, Malaysia finished 16th.

Four players — Aruna, Siti Sri Dalimah, Puah Pei San and Norhayati Saaidun — played in the 2007 world championship.

Another seven players were members of the Malaysian team who won the gold medal in the Asian junior championship in New Delhi, India last year.

Shamsiah said they would also be going for a training cum competition stint in Australia.
“If everything goes as planned, the stint will be in May for about 10 days,’’ she said.

The training squad:
Norhayati Saaidun
Izyan Syazana Mohd Wazir
Noor Atika Md Radzi
Siti Fairus Mustafa
Nur Shamilia Md Shamsudin
Puah Poi San
Saidatul Erni Saiful Bahari
Nurul Husna Akbal Amad
Yati Akhtar Mahtar
Siti Sri Dalimah Suhaimi
Nurul Shaffa Mustafa
Noramirah Dayana Noor Azhar
Nur Syafazliyana Mohd Ali
S. Aruna
Norashikin Kamal Zaman
Siti Nor Farhana Mustafa