SINGAPORE — It was tagged as the must-win mission, for a loss to Zambia at the Netball World Cup would see the Singaporean netballers facing a tough classification match against world No 9 Barbados in the battle for a 13th-place finish in Sydney.

But the world No 15 Singaporeans were left disappointed yesterday, losing 67-36 to a lower-ranked Zambia (No 16) in their final qualification-round match at Sydney Olympic Park.

Fired up to claim their first win of the tournament, Zambia drew first blood early in the encounter, storming to a 6-3 lead after just six minutes. While the Republic’s netballers came back to level the score at 8-8, Zambia’s defence proved too much for the Singaporeans, who lost the first quarter 14-8. A sluggish second period gave Zambia the 31-20 victory at half-time, and there was no looking back for the African team as their sharpshooters — aided by top scorer Lucy Jere who scored 34 points — poured in 36 points in the second half to claim the victory, 67-36.

Team Singapore will need to beat Barbados in the playoff match today to keep their hopes of a 13th place finish alive. A win will see them meeting either Zambia or Sri Lanka in the playoff for 13th to 14th position, while defeat will relegate them to the playoff for 15th to 16th positions.

The national team — who were 15th at the 2011 edition — had targeted to better or equal their best-ever finish of 12th from the 1999 event, but now find themselves fighting to stay in contention for 13th place.

“We are all pretty disappointed. It was an important game, but we really struggled with their attacking structure, and we couldn’t get our normal tune on the ball,” said head coach Ruth Aitken.

“It would be a ‘toughie’ beating Barbados, and we would certainly be disappointed if we couldn’t better our 15th place finishing in the 2011 edition. But we need to not get ahead of ourselves, and just focus on our game preparation and recovery now, and to put in our best tomorrow to give ourselves the best chance of finishing in the highest possible placing.”

Aitken added that changes will need to be made to their training plans after the World Cup, which will include getting more sparring sessions with teams outside Asia.

Added centre Nurul Baizura: “It has been a very humbling experience at the World Cup so far. We also have the chance for chats with some of netball’s superstars on their games ahead and what tips they have … Only by mixing with the best, do we get to improve too.”