Charmaine Soh has waited two years for today - a chance for revenge against arch-rivals Malaysia and an opportunity to reclaim the SEA Games netball title.

Both teams booked their spots in the final with comfortable wins yesterday. Soh led her side to a 61-31 victory over Thailand, while defending champions Malaysia eased past Brunei 64-40 in the earlier semi-final at the Santa Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna.

The 29-year-old, who is the only remaining member of the title-winning 2015 squad and was also part of the team that lost their crown two years ago, said: "I've waited very long for this. In 2017, we weren't as prepared and I feel that the team is more united."

She said they had learnt from last Friday's 54-49 loss to Malaysia in the preliminary round.

The Republic started brightly and even took an early lead. But they started to commit simple errors and also let their guard down, which allowed their opponents back into the game.

Soh said: "We're aiming for nothing less than a win.

"We were too casual, we thought we were leading but decided not to be aggressive.

"We need to have that intense game and play consistently.

"We'll have to take that one extra step, make an extra run tomorrow and have each other's backs up till the final whistle."

In the 2017 final, they lost 65-41 to the hosts in Kuala Lumpur.

During this campaign in the Philippines, Singapore have struggled to find their rhythm early on and have had to play catch up. Even against minnows Brunei, they trailed 14-17 in the second quarter.

Despite some less-than-convincing displays, Singapore coach Natalie Milicich was pleased with her charges' progress over the past week and was quietly confident of their chances against Malaysia.

She said: "We are absolutely ready for the game. We needed a few matches to build up those connections. Coming into this, we were still trying to find solutions to the changes on the court, but I think we've nailed our combinations and we know what our strengths are."

The New Zealander added: "They're very determined to go out and play really well tomorrow.

"We've taken a good look at ourselves and we're aware that Malaysia will come out really strongly, so we've placed quite a lot of focus on telling ourselves that we need to stay tight as a group and not get distracted."

5 questions with... Charmaine Soh

Q What's on your pre-match Spotify playlist?

A I normally listen to very calming, soothing music such as the laid-back acoustic music and some sleeping playlists.

Q What are you watching on Netflix?

A Vagabond, a Korean drama.

Q What's your theme song?

A Photograph by Ed Sheeran. It's very meaningful. It doesn't represent my life but I think it's a song that got me through the ups and downs. I like the music itself, the tune of it.

Q Your signature phrase

A Can one lah.

Q Which athlete do you want to be for a day?

A Ameliaranne Ekenasio from the New Zealand netball team. She plays as a shooter and is a very smart and sharp player.