Fans' 'cheers' inspire Kenya to their first trophy

The crowd of 1,280 at the OCBC Arena on Sept 7 may have comprised mainly Singaporean supporters, but that did little to intimidate Kenya's netballers who were facing the hosts in the Mirxes Nations Cup final.

- Kimberly Kwek

They even had a unique approach to turn the noise from the partisan fans into their advantage: The Kenyans simply assumed that the cheers were for them.

It worked in the 30th-ranked team's favour as they beat defending champions Singapore 61-33 to lift their first international trophy.

Goal shooter Lydia Nyapera said: "We have a slogan: Whoever is there, we will assume that you guys are our supporters, whether you're from Singapore or Kenya.

"It didn't affect us, we had prepared for that so it was something normal to us and we took it positively." Capitalising on a frantic start from Singapore, Kenya took an early lead.

While the hosts eventually settled into the game, the first quarter ended with the visitors leading 16-9, although several incorrect calls against world No. 25 Singapore were made by the umpire.

It was a closer contest in the second quarter.