VISITING netball coach Leonie Otago is confident Hong Kong will do well in next week's Asian Youth Championship although the team won only one of their lead-up matches on a recent Australian tour.
The 12-strong Hong Kong squad went on a training stint to Brisbane last month where they played six matches and were beaten in five.
'The standard [of netball] in Australia is much higher and I think the girls did quite well overall,' said Otago, an Australian who has been helping the Hong Kong team since May.
'They beat a team of more experienced and older players who are representing a 2,000-strong netball club and in their other matches, they were only narrowly beaten.' Hong Kong will be the favourites in the tournament which also features Singapore, Malaysia and India as the territory is ranked number one in Asia at senior level.
The territory's senior team won the Asian Championships a year ago in which Singapore finished second.
But Otago said: 'I really have no idea of the standard of the other teams but I would guess Singapore and Malaysia can offer us a challenge.