Netball: At 35, Vanessa Lee is back in the national team for one more crack at SEA Games gold

SINGAPORE - Losing wing attack Kimberly Lim to a serious injury was a blow to Singapore's hopes of reclaiming the netball gold at next month's SEA Games but in Vanessa Lee, national coach Natalie Milicich has found an able replacement.

Lim, 23, tore her Achilles tendon at last month's M1 Nations Cup and needing cover, Milicich has turned to a familiar face.

Lee is a former national captain with 100 caps and led the Republic to a silver medal at the Asian Netball Championships in September 2018. A month later, she announced she was taking a break from the international game but has been training regularly with the national team since April.

Lee, who plays wing defence or centre, turns 36 later this month. The next oldest in the 12-player Singapore SEA Games squad are captain Charmaine Soh, Kwok Shuyi and Carmen Goh, All are 29 this year.

Milicich said: "She brings that calmness, experience and leadership. We've lost a key player in Kimberly, so being able to replace her with a player like Vanessa is very fortunate for us."

For Lee, her time away made her realise how much she missed the camaraderie. She said: "Being back in the team playing with teammates is something that I do enjoy and I missed. There are definitely the other parts like playing competitively at a high level, but ultimately it's teammates that matter.

"Being in a team sports, the team becomes second family. They're the people you see the most other than your family, and these are ones that throughout the years that you play, you grow closer to and share a lot of things with each other."

This is her second comeback. In 2012, she retired from the international game after Singapore won the Asian Netball Championship in Colombo only to return and captain the team from 2016 till last October.

She skipped last month's Nations Cup due to work commitments but still attended training sessions in the build-up.

She said: "Our coach Natalie actually made a point for those who are not involved in the tournament to still stay engaged and train with the team, so even if you're not selected, you'll know what is going on."

The SEA Games netball tournament in Laguna, the Philippines, is scheduled for Nov 25-Dec 2 and the Singapore team will be doing double training sessions daily as part of their final preparations.

Milicich acknowledged one key area they will be focusing on is finding the gap left by Lim.

She said: "It's a tough process. We were reliant on Kimberly, so we need to find a starting wing attack.

"We're looking at who our options are in that position and we're working very hard on that."

Singapore team: Charmaine Soh (captain), Aqilah Andin (vice-captain), Vanessa Lee, Melody Teo, Toh Kai Wei, Lee Pei Shan, Sindhu Nair, Kwok Shuyi, Carmen Goh, Tan Xin Yi, Jamie Lim, Angelina Lim.

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SEA Games fixtures

Nov 25: Singapore v Philippines

Nov 27: Singapore v Brunei

Nov 28: Singapore v Thailand

Nov 29: Singapore v Malaysia

Dec 1: Semi-finals

Dec 2: Final