Expect a fiery final
Malaysia united to wrest back gold from Singapore, says Pei San
A DETERMINED Puah Pei San is all fired up to seize the moment for Malaysia in today’s netball final against Singapore.
Yesterday, Malaysia were far from their best but were still good enough to beat Brunei 70-28 in the semi-finals at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara.
National coach Tracey Robinson fielded all her four shooters and Norashikin Kamalzaman came out tops by scoring 29 points, followed by An Najwa Azizan (20), S.L. Karishma (15) and Izyan Syazana Mohd Wazir (6).
Defending champions Singapore were given a run for their money before prevailing 55-43 against Thailand to check into the final.
Pei San, who plays as wing attack, can’t wait for the final.
“To me, our team has been consistent from day one. We’ve played different strategies against different teams. We’ll come out with the right game plan against Singapore,” said Pei San.
“One thing for sure is that we are all deter- mined to fight all the way until the final whistle. We are only after the gold. “I was not there when Malaysia lost to Singapore in the final in 2015 but I know how disappointed my teammates were.
“I’ll go all out if fielded. If not, I’ll cheer at the top of my voice for my teammates.
“That's how united we are.”
Pei San is hoping to emulate the feat of elder sister Pei Ling, who was a member of the team who won gold at the 2001 Kuala Lumpur Games. Australian Robinson expects to see a low-scoring game against Singapore.
“It’ll be tight. We’ll stick to the same plan. We can field seven players in every quarter but I’m pleased that we have 12 good ones to choose from,” she said.
“The girls have done well so far and it’s about finishing well now.”