Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
NATIONAL netball coach Jane Searle (pic R) is in an upbeat mood ahead of making her debut at the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines.
The Australian only returned to Brunei in June - after coaching Brunei for the Asian Netball Championships last year - knows that there will be no easy games in the five-team competition.
“I guess I’m an optimist and have high expectations going in. Looking at past performances, we have extremely tough games against Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand,” said Searle in an interview with BruSports News yesterday before departure at the Brunei International Airport in Berakas.
“I’m hopeful that we can make inroads against Singapore and Malaysia because you never know what will happen on the day,” she added.
The Royal Bees bagged the shared bronze medal in the last two editions of the Games and hopes for another podium finish this time around.
They will open their campaign against Thailand on Tuesday before taking on Singapore the next day.
The Sultanate will then take on defending champions Malaysia before completing the group stage against hosts Philippines next Friday.
Finishing in the top four would them see them enter the semi-finals for a guaranteed medal.
Searle would have preferred not to face the Thais in their opener but is targeting a triumph against them.
It will be no easy task for the Royal Bees especially that they have lost all four meetings against Thailand since 2015.
“Thailand is a game we are aiming for as they have always been our main competition,” said Searle.
“I’m hoping to improve and get a win against Thailand eventhough it is a tough ask,” she added.
Brunei defeated the Philippines in the last two editions of the SEA Games but the hosts have improved after roping in a coach for the past year.
“Philippines is an unknown quantity but everyone heard that they have improved enormously having a coach there for 12 months continuously,” said Searle.
“They got tall basketball players which will make it hard for us but on our day, we have been playing some great netball.
“We definitely have the height disadvantage so we have to be much smarter with the ball and use our speed to counter their height,” added the Australian.
Hopefully we can put it all together on the day and anything can happen against any of the teams,” she concluded.
