An Najwa nets it big with Aussie call-up

KUALA LUMPUR:

National netball ace An Najwa Azizan is certainly going places.

The sharp shooter will be the first Malaysian netball player to ply her trade in Australia when she joins GWS Fury – a New South Wales (NSW) Premier League outfit – next week.

GWS Fury have snapped up the prolific 20-year-old goal shooter after being recommended by former national coach Tracey Robinson, who guided Malaysia to the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games gold medal last year.

The 1.79m tall An Najwa will leave for Sydney tomorrow and will be based there until September.

An Najwa hopes to impress in the sec- ond-tier NSW Premier League. If she does well, she may get a chance to play in the top tier Suncorp Super Netball.

“It’s a dream come true,” said the 44-time capped player.

“It’s a great honour to play for GWS Fury and I can’t wait to get started. It’s going to be an eye-opening experience for me.

“Their netball team are ranked No. 1 in the world. They have a good league set-up there.

“As a pioneer, it’s my mission to show that Malaysian netballers are just as good. Hopefully, it will open up the door for more Malaysians to pursue their netball careers abroad.”

Meanwhile, Malaysia Netball Association (MNA) president Datuk Suraya Yaacob said the national team’s ultimate target this year was to retain their Asian Championship title and qualify for the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool, England.

“The World Cup is held four years once and we really want to be part of it this time. The last time we qualified were in 2011 in Singapore.”

The association have short-listed 27 players for this year including 11 from the SEA Games champion squad.

The long-serving Yap Suo Kuen, 33, has retired after the SEA Games.