Sisters Uzma and Zulfa Rashad earn call-up to S’pore netball Opens team

SINGAPORE – The last few years have been a test of patience for sisters Uzma and Zulfa Rashad, who were both in the national netball development squad.

Each time the names for the Opens team were announced, it brought mixed feelings – happiness for their teammates who earned the call-ups, but frustration at their failure to make the step up.

While doubts were raised, confronting them together has eased their pain and also spurred them on their path to redemption.

Fired up by the shared ambition of making the national senior squad, the siblings, who have an 11-month age gap, pushed each other to improve.

Younger sister Zulfa, 21, said: “It definitely helped us; we were always pushing each other to play to the best of our abilities.

“Even though we have a lot of training during the weekdays, but during weekends, we would go on runs and once a while we would go to the gym too.

“It’s important to have someone there to push me, so we can reach the same goal at the end of the day.”

Their persistence was rewarded on March 30, when they both received the e-mail informing them of their selection to the 2026 Opens team.

To mark the occasion, their father, an ardent supporter who watches their games and offers feedback, celebrated by buying them their favourite coffee.

“We were in development for three years, so to see your teammates you train with in the same squad move up to Opens, you feel happy for them but you also question your own potential,” said Uzma, 22, a sport science and management undergraduate at the Nanyang Technological University.

“It made us realise that we needed to work even harder to get where we want to be.

“It feels so surreal and to be able to do it with my sister and getting to the squad at the same time, it means something that we’ve achieved this milestone.”

They are among six uncapped players who have been selected for the 2026 Opens squad, whose major assignments include the Aug 8-15 Asian Netball Championships in Hong Kong, where the Vandas will be aiming to retain their title.

Besides the sisters, the other newcomers are Sara Lightfoot, Charlotte Lee, Laura Low and Anna Macinnes. The team are undergoing a renewal phase, with the retirement of co-captain Khor Ting Fang while Yew Shu Ning and Jenine Ang are taking a break.

Playing the same sport has helped Uzma and Zulfa since they took up netball as a co-curricular activity while studying at Temasek Primary School.

Since then, they have trained and competed together, with their relationship on court shaped by open and honest feedback.

When they were in the same team in Nanyang Polytechnic, Zulfa, a shooter, recalled that there were times when Uzma, a defender, would shout instructions across the court.

A memory that Zulfa holds dear came from the 2025 Nations Cup. Only upon rewatching footages of matches did she realise that Uzma was cheering and celebrating all her goals.

In return, Zulfa made highlight reels of Uzma’s match at the recent Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic Games and posted them on Instagram as encouragement.

But it has not been all plain sailing for the pair, especially when both of them failed to be picked at the same time.

“Sometimes you want to celebrate but at the back of your head you think, ‘Am I allowed to celebrate?’” said Zulfa, who is reading business management at the Singapore Institute of Management-Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

“Over the years when these things happened, it didn’t deter us from wanting to achieve our end goal, which is to get into the Opens.

“This just shows us that maybe there is something that one person is lacking and we need to continuously push each other to improve our game and be better.”

At the recent Deloitte Netball Super League, things got heated when their teams – Zulfa played for Fier Orcas, while Uzma featured for Sneakers – met in the second round.

Laughing as they recalled the incident, Uzma said: “I just felt like Zulfa was being very physical, so I gave her a shove. That’s part of the competitiveness on the court itself, but outside of it, we just laughed about it.”

Zulfa added: “I got so agitated so I just hit her back and got called for contact and then the next quarter she hit me back, so it’s even. But then my coach told me not to do that, so I think it was quite obvious. My coach was like don’t fight on court, fight at home.”

Having just earned their spots in the Opens team, the sisters are determined to continue working hard and represent Singapore at major competitions.

While she acknowledged that it would not be easy, Zulfa is eyeing a spot at the 2027 Malaysia SEA Games.

She said: “I know it’s not going to be easy because I have to trial with seniors who are more experienced than me. But, with this motivation of getting this call-up, I will continue training harder to work towards the next SEA Games.”

Uzma added: “Getting (into the) Opens is one thing but it’s definitely not the end goal. (The priority for now) is being able to adapt to the environment first and slowly gain confidence and be able to perform at every training.

“What’s most important is to be receptive to feedback. I’m very grateful to be training with my seniors… and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to train with them and improve my skills.”