Thursday, January 28, 2010 – It was just two short days ago that these two teams had met each other on the court. Suffering a previous defeat by Chinese Taipei in their last match, Team Singapore looked set to perform better in what could be considered a re-match in the 2nd leg of the 1st Youth Handball Tournament 2010. By the end of the 2 thirty-minute halves, it seemed as though Singapore’s female youth team had achieved some of what they had set out to do. They managed to reduce the score difference of their last match from 10-43 to 11-38.
Being the third and final day of the tournament, the stats were now in and with knowledge of the Tournament’s top scoring female being a member of Chinese Taipei’s team; it looked as if Team Singapore had little choice but to be prepared to brave the storm of smashes and scores that would soon come their way. Even with that possibility looming in front of them, Singapore came away with a great start. Within the first thirty seconds of the game, Singapore’s Esther Chong took advantage of the opponents’ initial flat-footedness to score the first point of the match. However, aggression was clearly in the air as top female scorer of the Tournament, Wang Yu-Fen, made a quick getaway at the changeover to even the score at 1-1.
It was apparent throughout the entire first half of the match that the Singapore players had a problem connecting their passes at the most crucial moments, resulting in Chinese Taipei’s consistent robbing them of possession. While Team Singapore’s goalkeeper, Neo Su Min had started off alert and ever-ready to fend off the sharp attacks by the strong opposition, it soon boiled down to raw stats and probability. Every failed connection on Singapore’s side had greatly increased the likelihood that Wang or any of her other competent teammates would sneak a break to win yet another point for their team. Neo’s efforts to keep the score tight for her team became evidently deficient as the Taiwanese powerhouses quite easily ploughed their way through the first line of defence, and later, her as well.
Unlike the 1st Leg of the Tournament, Chinese Taipei looked a lot surer of their skills and game play right from the beginning. The first few minutes of the match witnessed several impressive scores by the likes of Wang, Shin Wei Ju and Huang Wen Yu. By the eighth minute, the former had already begun pulling away with a 5-point lead. At one point in the match, a yellow card had been issued to Chinese Taipei, awarding Singapore’s Chung Kayan the 7-metre throw. It was a golden opportunity for the Singapore team to narrow the score line. Unfortunately, nerves must have gotten the better of Chung when she released a somewhat effete throw at the Taiwanese goalkeeper, who simply nestled the ball into her hands.
Towards the end of the first half, the Taiwanese had gained full momentum. Each goal attack had become harder and harder to defend, each connecting phase leading to a point had become both effortless and flawless, and each shot into the net had become sharper and more accurate as the minutes went by. So rare was the occasion that either Wang or Huang had taken a shot only to have it blocked by the now dazed goalkeeper, or even the goalpost. The last few minutes before the half-time break saw Chinese Taipei’s Goh Fu Mei come away with three consecutive points for her team by giving a show of unpredictability as well as Shin Wei Ju making a free dash down the flank only to smash the ball so far into the net awing the spectators with her strength and accuracy. 
Keeping the unyielding faith in their own abilities, Team Singapore’s girls, Jamie Sng and Clarissa Yap helped give Singapore their second and third scores respectively by capitalizing on the crevices left unmarked by the Taiwanese. By the end of the first half, the score was 21-3, with Chinese Taipei in a comfortable lead.
After the break, Singapore’s girls looked like they had finally warmed up and were ready to take on Chinese Taipei. Again, Singapore was off to a good start, with new goalkeeper, Ho Min Pei soaking the hits to prevent the Taiwanese from scoring more points than they already did. Team Singapore surely looked like they had a better time in the second half compared to the first. It was in the second half that Esther Chong managed to regain possession after a changeover to come away on her own from a small opening in the defence. With her nippy, long strides, Esther made her way to the D. Now just 1-to-1 with the goalkeeper who was planted firmly on the ground with her hands high up in the air, Esther took a sharp-angled shot on the goalkeeper’s inside right to hit the back of the net. Top scorer for Singapore’s team, Leia Teo, also found an opportunity to score two more points for the team in this next half of the match. It seemed as though every member was now raring to have a go at the opposition goalkeeper. At one point in the game, the Taiwanese goalkeeper almost got away with a near-miss as Singapore’s Grace Ong smashed the ball into the corner of the former’s foot, preventing Singapore climb in terms of points.
Even with the huge lead gained in the previous half, the Chinese Taipei girls did not let up. Within the first ten minutes of the second-half, they had very quickly found themselves in an even steadier position with a 19-point lead. At no point in time today did the Taiwanese show any sign of being tired. It was only during the final four minutes that it seemed as though fatigue had finally set in for the latter and Team Singapore’s Chung Kayan capitalized on the momentary lapse in concentration to score two opportunistic points for her team. The final score of the match stands at 38-11, with Chinese Taipei winning their second game against Team Singapore.
Written by: Nadine Wu
Photos taken by: Janelle Koh
