After a decade of hounding attackers, national netballer Chen Lili's towering presence will no longer be felt in the defensive circle.

The 1.96m defender has called time on her international career, which has seen her amass 82 caps since she was recruited from China in 2010 by Netball Singapore (NS).

Chen, 30, cited the uncertainties brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic as one of the main reasons for her decision to step away. She has also struggled with injury in recent years - she had surgery on her right anterior cruciate ligament in June 2019 - and was unsure if she would be able to recover her form.

Before the outbreak hit, she had contemplated retiring after the Asian Netball Championship. The tournament was scheduled to take place in South Korea in December but has since been suspended.

Unsure of when the next competition would be, Chen, who wants to pursue a career in teaching or coaching, felt that this was the best time to hang up her national jersey.

She said yesterday: "This has been my whole life for the past 10 years. I feel sad to leave my friends and Netball Singapore. I will miss playing the games but I will cheer for them from the sidelines."

When the Heilongjiang native arrived in Singapore in 2010, she knew only a smattering of English words such as 'hi', 'bye' and 'thank you'. The former basketballer also had to pick up netball from scratch, but Chen, now fluent in the language, was quick to learn the ropes.

In a career that has seen her compete at multiple tournaments, she counts victory at the 2015 SEA Games on home soil as one of her favourite moments.

"That was the first SEA Games gold medal for Singapore and I got to play with my friends. The crowd supporting us also made it very memorable," she said.

She also featured at the 2015 Netball World Cup in Sydney, the 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia and four Asian Netball Championships, lifting the trophy in 2012 and 2014.

NS president Jessica Tan paid tribute to Chen, saying yesterday: "She has been an integral part of the team and she will be missed, especially in defence. While she's retired, we hope she will stay close to netball."

Chen, who coaches River Valley Primary School, Yuan Ching Secondary School and Catholic Junior College, has applied to several local institutions to pursue a degree in Chinese studies or physical education. She hopes to become a teacher in the future.

She has been coaching for about six years and added: "I want to pass my passion to my students. I quite enjoy my time with the kids, teaching them skills and looking at them go from having no experience to playing netball."