Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
NATIONAL netball coach Nur Hafizah Hj Abdul Sidek was satisfied with the Royal Bees finishing sixth at the Asian netball Championships 2022 in Singapore.
Brunei secured the position after defeating Maldives 51-42 in their final game at the OCBC Arena on Sunday.
Fizah revealed that they had targeted to either better or maintain their position of sixth from the last edition four years ago.
"I'm proud of the players and what we achieved here in Singapore," said Fizah in an interview with BruSports News when contacted.
"We only had three months of training and overcame a lot of challenges. There was only a little time to gather the team to train together due to work commitments.
"We had a lot of new faces given their first caps and with everything that happened with COVID and all, I can say that I'm satisfied that we could retain our ranking for this ANC," she added.
Placed in Group C, Brunei began their campaign with a 78-22 hammering at the hands of Malaysia on Sept 3.
They then bounced back the next day with a 38-34 victory over Chinese-Taipei - sending them into Group F in the second round.
The Philippines edged the Royal Bees 37-40 on Sept 7 and Brunei then defeated Maldives 50-40 the following day.
It resulted in a second meeting against the Philippines in the playoffs and they once again lost a tightly contested battle 42-38 on Saturday before the final game.
The competition is a coaching debut for Fizah, who is a three-time SEA Games bronze medallist, and she is enjoying the change.
"I am truly grateful to be given the chance to experience coaching the Royal Bees. I'm not going to lie, it hasn’t really been easy for me to transition from being player to a coach," said Fizah.
"But I do believe that I managed and adjusted well. I'm enjoying it so far," she added.
When asked on what is next for the Royal Bees, Fizah replied: "I’d like to see the girls continue training, working hard and grinding to be the best versions of themselves.
"With the Royal Bees being an inspiration towards our younger generation, netball in Brunei has a promising future and I do believe that one day we will be able to up our rank in Asia and in the world," she concluded.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka retained the title after defeating hosts Singapore 63-53 in the final.
Malaysia claimed the bronze with a 54-42 win over Hong Kong.
