SINGAPORE — Backed by a vociferous home crowd, Singapore’s national netball team clinched their first-ever South-east Asian (SEA) Games gold medal at the OCBC Arena today (June 7) after a nail-biting 46-43 win over arch-rivals Malaysia in the final.

The last time netball featured at the biennial tournament was 14 years ago in the 2001 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, where Malaysia beat Singapore in the final. 

But the Republic’s netballers — who are also reigning Asian Champions — made sure history did not repeat itself, overcoming the Malaysians in a tightly-contested match that saw them lead from start to finish.

The win is also the perfect boost for Singapore ahead of their participation in the Netball World Cup in Sydney in August, where they will aim to improve on the current world No 17 ranking.

President Tony Tan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong were on hand to congratulate the girls after their victory.

“Everyone is behind us today, and it really kept us going. Thank you very much, guys,” said Singapore captain Lin Qingyi.

The win came after a 35-35 draw against the Malaysians in the round-robin stage of the competition which handed the psychological advantage their opponents.

Said veteran defender Premila Hirubalan, the sole survivor from the side that lost in the 2001 SEA Games final: “It (the win) was unexpected. We knew it was always going to be a tough fight with Malaysia, and that they can come back anytime.

“But we told ourselves that if they were going to fight and try a come-back at any time, we are going to fight it out too.”

Thailand and Brunei, which lost to Singapore and Malaysia respectively in the semi-finals on Saturday (June 6), shared the bronze medal.

Match highlights:

Video: Sport Singapore