Singapore skipper Vanessa determined to lead team to glory

VANESSA Lee has certainly come a long way.

From being a spectator at the Singapore Games two years ago, she is now the skipper of the Singapore netball team at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

And she’s determined to lead her team to the gold when they face Malaysia in today’s final at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara.

Yesterday, Singapore beat hard-working Thailand 55-43 in the semi-finals while Malaysia enjoyed a high-scoring 70-28 win over Brunei.

The 34-year-old Vanessa was cheering from the stands when hosts Singapore edged Malaysia by three points in the final in 2015.

“I was with the national team before but took a break. I was tired and wanted to try something different in life. But I fell in love with the sport all over again after watching the team win in 2015.

“I rejoined the national team and now I want to help them defend the title,” she said.

Vanessa, however, expects the match against Malaysia to go down to the wire.

“It’ll be nail-biting for sure. We expect nothing less than a strong fight from Malaysia,” she said.

“We didn’t play well against Malaysia in the round-robin match (Singapore lost 37-50). We’ve identified our mistakes.

“Our strength is our players’ composure. And if we can get our passing, movement and scoring right, we can be deadly.”