Singapore
INF World Ranking: 19th
As two of Asia's economic powerhouses, Singapore and Hong Kong are often mutual yardsticks for each other's success and netball certainly falls within the scope of comparison. The two sides have thus become well-acquainted, with the Hong Kong-Singapore Cup and Nations Cup regular instalments of the friendly rivalry that has taken hold.
This takes nothing away from the fact that the 2015 SEA Games Champions enter the Four Nations Cup as the highest-ranked team in the competition, though they will not need a reminder of the threat posed by sides such as Ireland, who upset the Nations Cup hosts 54-53 back in December.
Captained by veteran Vanessa Lee, who ended a 4-year hiatus from the national team, Singapore will be hoping to utilise the Four Nations to gather momentum ahead of the Asian Netball Championships later this year.
Interview with Vanessa Lee, Singapore Captain.
Q: You managed to beat Hong Kong in December during the Nations Cup. Given that Hong Kong now have home advantage, how confident are you of a repeat of that result?
With Hong Kong, we always expect competition from them and now they're playing on their home ground, it's going to give them that much of an advantage.
We're not expecting an easy game from Hong Kong but definitely looking forward to meeting them again.
Q: What do you know about the teams you will be playing against and how much of a challenge do you think they will be?
We have played against Ireland and Hong Kong before and we've also played against Grenada a while ago.
I guess we do know how they play, but there have been changes in the team and we're definitely expecting strong competition from them. This competition won't be easy, but definitely looking forward to it.
Q: What would it mean for your team to take the Cup home?
It means everything! This tournament is in preparation for the Asian Championships for us, so we're looking to take the opportunity to fine tune stuff in our own game.