Brunei's Siti Nur Saihah Mohd
Nazmi, 3rd (L) tries for the
interception during an earlier
game in the tournament.
Picture: BT/Syarif Rasani
It was always going to be tough nut to crack for Brunei.
The national under-21 netball team succumbed to a 50-19 defeat at the hands of defending champions Malaysia in Group A of the 8th Asian Youth Netball Championship on Wednesday.
The loss combined with Hong Kong beating Japan 38-19 means that Brunei are out of the running for the semi-finals at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas.
Instead Brunei will be fighting for fifth to eighth placing for the remainder of the June 30 - July 7 tournament.
They will be up against Maldives and the encounter tips off at 2.30pm today.
Despite the loss against Malaysia, national netball coach Thilaka Jinadasa felt that the team put up a commendable performance.
"We tried to go on the attack at the start but it was difficult with the tough defence by our opponents. We missed many shots under pressure," said Jinadasa in an interview with The Brunei Times after the loss.
"We did all we could already but our shooters just couldn't get their shots to fall. But this is still good experience for their considering that this is their first international outing.
"We tried to score 25 points but fell short. We tried to close the gap but still it was good though that we managed to hold our opponents to only 50 points though," she added.
"Size mattered in the game and the score doesn't show how good of a fight we put up. We never gave up.
"We have been together for only the past six months compared to our opponents who have been playing for some two years now," continued the Sri Lankan.
A total of 10 teams separated into two groups are vying for top honours in the tournament. Brunei was grouped with Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan and India in Group A.
On the other hand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand and Nepal made up Group B.
The hosts had opened their campaign on a high note after beating Japan 48-26 on Sunday.
They were then edged 38-34 by Hong Kong in the second game on Monday before bouncing back with a 56-30 triumph over India on Tuesday.
