Women’s basketball team aim to defend SEA Games gold medal

KUALA LUMPUR: The national women’s basketball team aim to defend the gold medal at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games from Aug 19-31.

Head coach Yoong Sze Yuin said she was confident of meeting the target based on the high spirit shown by the players during training session.

“The players are highly motivated and in the mood for the SEA Games. Being the host country, the pressure to succeed is double.

“However, this can be resolved through mental preparation when entering the third phase of training.”

She was speaking to reporters after handling a team training session which was witnessed by chef de mission of the Malaysian contingent to the 2017 SEA Games, DatukMarinaChin,here,yesterday. Yoong said several friendly matches were being lined-up for the team before considering to compete in an invitational tournament in Bangalore, India.

“We will be involved in friendly matches in Perth, Australia in March and Yamagata, Japan in May. The tournament in India may follow suit,” she added.

Meanwhile, team captain Nur Izzati Yaakob said the friendly matches abroad were important to gauge the team’s strength.

“The friendly matches in Australia and Japan are crcuial since they can help to improve our performance and plug the weaknesses,” she added. — Bernama