| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam netball team finished sixth at the Asian Netball Championships 2018 after losing to Thailand 70-34 in the fifth place playoff at the OCBC Arena of the Singapore Sports Hub in Singapore yesterday.
The Royal Bees, led by Her Royal Highness Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah, were looking to avenge their defeat in the plate grouping but Thailand led the first quarter 17-9 after pulling away when the score was locked 3-3.
Brunei saw their centre pass intercepted by the magnificent Sirima Samnaree who passed it to centre Rungnapa Seetongbon. The centre sent a loop pass to Pakladathanan Thiratanatiworachot who made no mistake to convert her shot.
The Royal Bees had to content with the threat of Thailand’s lethal goal shooter Pakladathanan who had already scored 155 goals in the tournament.
Thailand extended their lead in the second quarter with the score reading 36-20 and the gap further increased by 24 points with a 54-30 score in the third quarter.
Thailand’s offence proved highly effective with goal shooter Pakladathanan leading the scoring assault with a good conversion rate. The Thais put out early balls to the goal shooter whose height proved to be one of her greatest assets in causing damage to the Brunei defence.
The Thais were offensively superior during the game with Sirima illustrating her qualities with a consistently successful placement rate to her partner Pakladathanan.
Brunei Darussalam goal shooter Nur Hafizah binti Haji Abdul Sidek has been a bright spot for the team having recorded 128 goals out of 160 attempts prior to the tie against Thailand.
Brunei had managed 225 goals during the tournament and Nur Hafizah, an ever-present in the national side, had accounted more than half of the total.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka emerged champions of the tournament after beating Singapore 69-50 in the final.
Sri Lanka goal shooter Tharjini Sivalingam was instrumental to their pursuit to the title with a 93 per cent conversion rate.
It was a special moment for Head Coach Thilaka Jinadasa as the players rushed to embrace her. Jinadasa, who was reunited with the Sri Lanka team after coaching the Brunei team for seven years, returned as an Asian champion after last winning the title in 2009.
For Singapore, the silver medal still represents a degree of success having already booked their place in the 2019 INF Netball World Cup in Liverpool, United Kingdom.