A 2-1 defeat by Estonia yesterday saw Singapore finish 14th at the Women's World Floorball Championship (WFC) in Sweden, but head coach Lim Jin Quan felt that there were still positives to draw from the campaign.

While Singapore did not match their historic 12th-place finish achieved in 2019 - which was also their last international competition before the pandemic struck - he felt that they put up a better defensive showing this time.

Lim said: "The team cohesiveness and (their ability to) work together in defence and as a unit was outstanding, so I'm really happy to have such a closely-knit team."

He was also pleased that the team were able to finally gain some experience at the global level after the Covid-induced disruption and praised the performances of debutantes like Ong Ying Rui.

But he acknowledged that world No. 14 Singapore were let down by their finishing, including during yesterday's match against Estonia at the IFU Arena in Uppsala.

It was Singapore's second consecutive loss to 11th-ranked Estonia at this WFC. Their first meeting last Saturday ended 4-3 to Estonia.

Lim said: "We're trying to work on (converting our chances) - the players are equally frustrated.

"That's something we need to work on and hopefully we will be ready by 2023 (when Singapore hosts the Women's WFC) to get more goals."

With the women's team wrapping up their world championship campaign yesterday, Lim will now turn his attention to the men's team, whose competition starts today in Helsinki, Finland.

It will be the team's first international outing since the 2019 SEA Games as well as captain Syazni Ramlee's last as he prepares to step down after 13 years in the national side.

The 30-year-old had been contemplating retirement to spend more time with his family and had his mind set on stepping down after last year's Men's World Floorball Championship.

When the pandemic caused the competition to be pushed back to this year, Syazni, a full-time floorball coach, decided to stay on and compete in the Dec 3-11 event.

His decision to remain in the team for another year did not come without sacrifices, as he juggled his coaching sessions in the day with training at night.

On why he put his retirement on hold, Syazni said: "I wanted to end it well, I didn't want to end it without a last competition. Even though there weren't many competitions in the previous two years, I felt that it was just a proper way to end my journey."

Syazni started playing floorball at the age of 13, before he was called up to the senior team four years later. Since then, he has made 54 appearances for Singapore, competing in tournaments such as the men's WFC, SEA Games and Asia Oceania Cup.

With a new generation of players coming through, he felt that it was the right time to leave the team.

He said: "It's a good time for me to step down because I want to give the younger players the opportunity to get more exposure and develop for the future of floorball."

Syazni hopes to end his floorball career on a high at his fifth WFC, where world No. 16 Singapore are in Group D with Estonia (10th), Canada (11th) and the Philippines (35th).

Singapore finished last in the 16-team competition for the previous four editions they played. He hopes that they can do better this time.

He said: "For me, a top 12 (place) is still possible, but to better the rankings from the previous competitions is good enough for me."

Assistant coach Sonia Chia added: "Given that we have not competed in the last two years, we are looking forward to playing some games in Helsinki."