Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own goal ring. It is one of a few sports created exclusively for women and girls and remains primarily played by them, on indoor and outdoor courts, especially in schools and most popularly in the Commonwealth of Nations.
World Netball, previously known as the International Netball Federation and the International Federation of Netball Associations, is the worldwide governing body for Netball. The INF was created in 1960 and is responsible for world rankings, maintaining the rules for netball and organising the Netball World Cup and Netball at the Commonwealth Games
Netball is the most popular women's team participation sport in Australia. In 1985, there were 347,000 players. In 1995, there were over 360,000 Australian netball players. Throughout most of Australia's netball history, the game has largely been a participation sport; it has not managed to become a large spectator sport. In 2005 and 2006, 56,100 Australians attended one to two netball matches. Of these, 41,600 were women. 46,200 attended three to five netball matches, with 34,400 of those spectators being women. 86,400 attended six or more netball matches, with 54,800 spectators being female. Overall, 188,800 people attended netball matches, with 130,800 being female. In 2005 and 2006, netball was the 10th most popular spectator sport for women with Australian rules football (1,011,300), horse racing (912,200), rugby league (542,600), motor sports (462,100), rugby union (232,400), football (212,200), harness racing (190,500), cricket (183,200) and tennis (163,500) all being more popular. The country set an attendance record for a Netball match with a record crowd of 14,339 at the Australia–New Zealand Netball Test held at the Sydney Super Dome game in 2004.
The Singapore national netball team are the national netball team representing Singapore. The Singapore team have competed at eight World Netball Championships. They have also won three Nations Cup titles.
The Malaysia national netball team represents Malaysia in international netball competition at the quadrennial World Netball Championships for the INF Netball World Cup. Malaysia lost the title at the 2005 Asian Netball Championships to Singapore, 53–39. Malaysia qualified for the 2011 World Netball Championships in Singapore, finishing 16th. The team was coached by Choo Kon Lee. As of 2 December 2019, Malaysia is world ranked at 25th. Following the appointment of Australia's Tracey Robinson as head coach in 2016 the team were the 2018 Asian Netball Championships, defeating Sri Lanka. Another title followed at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games captained by Nur Syafazliyana against Singapore. They defended their title at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, beating Singapore 48-42.
The Asian Netball Championship is a netball competition held every two years with teams from across Asia competing. First 7 editions were held every four years, then changed to every two years starting from 2012. Sri Lanka is the reigning champion of the tournament and also the most successful team, having won the Asian Netball Championships 6 times. Singapore has 3 championships and Malaysia has two. From the first edition of the tournament held in 1985, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia dominated the tournament by always finishing within the top three. Only exception is the 3rd edition of the tournament held in 1993 where host nation Hong kong managed to win the championship.
The Sri Lanka national netball team is the national netball team of Sri Lanka. The team is coached by Hyacinth Wijesinghe and captained by Gayanjali Amarawansa. As of 01 March 2023, Sri Lanka are ranked 15th in the world.
The India national netball team is the national netball team of India. The team competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, for the first time. India were coached by Panchali Take and Amit Sharma, who took over from Mary Murcia Lourdes one month before the start of the Games. Prachi Tehlan captained the team, which finished 12th. As of 27 January 2013, India were 29th in the IFNA World Rankings.
Asia Netball, formerly the Asian Netball Federation, Asian Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA) and Netball Asia, is the governing body of netball in Asia. Netball Asia was founded in 1986 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, three years after representatives from five Asian netball countries – Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and India – met during the 1983 Netball World Championships in Singapore to discuss the creation of an Asian netball governing body. The current president of the AFNA is Anna Wong. The Asian Region covers a total of 49 countries. The Asian Region currently has 8 Associate Members and 10 Full Regional & INF Members.
The Hong Kong national netball team represents Hong Kong in international netball tournaments. They compete in the biannual Asian Netball Championship. They are currently ranked 33rd in the world.
Women started playing netball in India as early as 1926. The Sports Authority of India and the Government of India have provided much funding with the goal of improving the performance of the country's youth national team.
Netball is promoted in Malaysia at the Sport Carnival for All (KESUMA). In 1998, 113 districts held netball competitions. That year, there were 1,718 registered netball teams in the country. In 2001, netball was sufficiently popular in South East Asia for it to be included in the 21st Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championships in Colombo in 2001. Malaysia also competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship in India in 2010. Petronas, the national oil company, has been a major sponsor of netball in the country. This type of sponsorship was encouraged by the government as part of the Rakan Sukan programme.
There are 80,000 netball players in Singapore. playing several variations of netball, including beach netball. Sport Singapore is responsible for maintaining 8 netball courts. Netball Singapore is the official governing body for the sport in Singapore. It was created in 1962, with 63 registered clubs.
Netball was first played in Sri Lanka in 1921. The first game was played by Ceylon Girl Guide Company at Kandy High School. The first interschool march was played between Kandy High School and C.M.S. Ladies' College, Colombo in February 1925. In 1927, netball was played at Government Training College for the first time. This helped spread the game around Sri Lanka.
Thailand had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championship held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2001.
Malaysian Netball Association is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in Malaysia. Established in 1978, the Malaysian Netball Association hosted the first Asian Netball Championship in 1985, and the 3rd Asian Youth Netball Championship.
Netball Federation of India (NFI) is the national governing body of Netball in India. NFI is a non-profit, government funded organisation affiliated with the International Netball Federation (INF), the Asian Federation of Netball Association (AFNA) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. NFI was established in 1978 to standardise rules and regulations and to promote and develop the growth of netball in India. NFI operates all the Indian national representative netball sides, including the India national netball team and youth sides as well. NFI is also responsible for organising and hosting netball tournaments within India and scheduling the home international fixtures. Vagish Pathak is the current president of the organisation.
Netball is popular in several parts of Asia. The IFNA Asia region includes countries such as Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The major regional competition is the Asian Netball Championship. In 1994, the first Asian Youth Championship was held in Hong Kong.
The Asian Youth Netball Championship is regarded as the pinnacle netball tournament for the under-21 age group in the Asian Region. The Championship is a 7-day event held every 2 years in different countries across the region.
The Brunei national netball team nicknamed Royal Bees, is the national team representing Brunei in international netball competitions. The team is currently coached by Jane Searle, and captained by Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah. As of 2 December 2022, Brunei are 34th on the INF World Rankings.
Malaysia 
Sri Lanka (4th title)
Singapore 
