SINGAPORE – The thought of retirement had been on the back of Kimberly Lim’s mind for a while, but she just could not find the right time to say goodbye to the Singapore netball team.
However, when she felt a sense of peace after the Republic won the Mirxes Nations Cup in October, she decided it was time to close this chapter of her life that began nine years ago.
The 29-year-old said: “I had been thinking about it for a while, but all this time it was hard to put down.
“But getting through rehabilitation and after the Nations Cup, I felt very at ease, and thought it was a good time to move on with life.”
Calling time on her international career had already crossed her mind at the start of the year. But there was still some unfinished business for the 1.62m wing attack, who made her Singapore debut at the 2014 Asian Netball Championship.
Lim, who had to endure a long and tough path back after an Achilles tendon rupture in 2019, wanted to make sure the team were in a good place before she retired.
Helping her make up her mind were the creditable results that a young national team with an average age of 24.6 posted at the Netball World Cup in South Africa, where they beat Asian rivals Sri Lanka en route to a 15th-place finish in August.
In October, they won the Nations Cup on home soil, ending a 16-year wait for their third title in the tournament. This was followed by teammate Charmaine Soh’s retirement, which also prompted Lim’s decision to step down and spend more time with friends and family.
Lim, who has made 119 appearances for Singapore, said: “Seeing the team perform the way they did this year was a big catalyst and I was proud of how they’ve grown.
“I also finally put all my injuries behind me, rehab was done and I was happy.
“I told (coach) Annette (Bishop, about the decision to retire) after a random training in November when I felt no pain at all.”
While Lim has enjoyed success on the international stage – she was part of the teams who won the 2014 Asian Netball Championship and 2015 SEA Games – she counts earning her 100th cap at the Asian championship at the OCBC Arena in 2022 as one of the standout moments of her career, as it was a milestone that she is proud to have achieved.
While she has had to overcome injuries, which at one point left her feeling that she would never make a successful comeback, she has embraced the trials and tribulations that have come her way.
She said: “I don’t think I’ve gotten as smooth a journey as I would’ve liked – there were a lot more surgeries than I’d have liked, a lot of dark moments like whether I would make it past each surgery but that’s what makes everything so much sweeter.
“I don’t think I would have it any other way, these experiences have shaped me.”
Bishop said Lim’s retirement was a big loss to the team, citing how she was a mentor to the younger mid-court players, guiding them as they stepped up to the senior team.
But she believes the current team are well-equipped for the year ahead, with the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Asian Netball Championship and Nations Cup lined up, and expressed confidence in players such as Toh Kai Wei, Khor Ting Fang and Aqilah Andin in leading the side.
She said: “The squad is most definitely in a good space – as a squad, we’ve always talked about being able to keep performing and have that excellence even with retirements and injuries.
“We have to give credit to senior players like Char and Kim who were a big part of the squad with what they’ve given to the younger ones.”
