Singapore First Youth Handball Tournament 2010

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Day 2 of SYH - Results

Girls First Leg

Boys First Leg

Girls Second Leg

Boys Second Leg

Session 2 Match 3 Report

Match 3: Girls CHINESE TAIPEI vs SINGAPORE

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 – The Team Singapore female team got off their campaign in the Singapore 1^st Youth Handball Tournament to a 10-43 defeat under the hands of a strong Chinese Taipei opposition. The game was the start of a 3-day tournament to be held in Suntec City Convention Hall from 26-28 January 2010.

The physical advantage of the Chinese Taipei ladies posed a constant threat throughout the game, with both centre backcourts Shin Wei-Ju and Lin Hsin-Yi making their presence felt with their towering frames.

Both teams endured a nervy start, with early exchanges ending up being futile efforts. Chinese Taipei finally broke the deadlock at the 1 min 30 sec mark with Wang Yu-Fen breaking down the Singapore defence straight through the middle. This gave the Chinese Taipei team a surge in confidence as they quickly established a 3-0 cushion within the opening 3 minutes.

Team Singapore tried to get back into the game but the Chinese Taipei defence was simply too tight. On occasions where they did manage to break through the defence, the shots were directed straight at the goalkeeper, who had no difficulties keeping them out. Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei capitalised on the lapses in concentration of Singapore as they started to pull away from the game with a series of turnovers and fast breaks spearheaded by wingmen Huang Wen Yu.

The lead was extended to 10-0 after Huang scored from a 7-metre penalty following a foul by Singapore’s Gan Yun Ting, forcing a time-out from the Singapore bench. Following the time-out, Singapore returned with a renewed sense of determination, but their passing often let them down. These errors soon came to haunt them as they were punished by another wave of fast breaks by the quick-footed Chinese Taipei ladies.

Not to be discouraged, Team Singapore tried patiently to wear down the Chinese Taipei defence. Their efforts were finally rewarded when Gan Yun Ting launched a swift counter-attack from the left flank before finally nesting the ball at the bottom right corner, to the thunderous applause from the supporting home fans. The first half ended 21-1 to the visitors.

After the break, Singapore became more organised and disciplined, both in attack and defence. Their new tactic of exploiting the wing play seemed to have paid off as they successfully carved open the Chinese Taipei defense, embarking on a 4-1 run and thereby reducing the deficit the 5-27. Top scorer of the game, Lin Hsin-Yi then enjoyed a spectaculor run of her own. The Chinese Taipei attacking lynchpin used her agility and neat footwork to great effect, dancing past the Singapore defence and putting 5 goals behind the net in the process. Two subsequent long ranged efforts from Chinese Taipei substitute Koh Fu Mei forced another time-out from Singapore, with the game at 35-5 in the visitors’ favour.

Team Singapore restarted the game with greater urgency as the game was approaching its end. This resulted in another 4-0 run by the Singapore ladies, including an impressive long range shot fired home by Tan Bee Leng which brought the game to 36-9. However, their momentum was broken as team captain and goalkeeper Chen Yi-Hsuan pulled off an excellent reflex save for Chinese Taipei in the 25th minute of the second half.

Fatigue soon set in for both teams as the match drew to a close. Both teams of players became slower in back tracking, resulting in loop holes in the defence. Led by Huang Wen-Yu, Chinese Taipei then went on a 5-0 run of their own, putting the game beyond doubt. Singapore’s Grace Ong then added on to her personal tally as she weaved passed Chinese Taipei’s central defence, putting Singapore on double figures.

The match eventually ended 43-10 to Chinese Taipei after Wang Yu Fen scored the last goal of the night. Singapore will now face Hong Kong in the next match as they seek to register their first win of the tournament.

Written by: Janelle Koh

Photos taken by: Meiyin

Session 1 Match 2 Report

Match 2: Boys CHINESE TAIPEI vs HONG KONG

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 – On the first day of Singapore’s first Youth Handball Tournament, the second match featured the boys teams from Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong. Competing at the grand hall of Suntec International Convention Center (ICC), much were anticipated from the players of Chinese Taipei as they marched onto the court towering over the players from Hong Kong. Ms Yu Zi Xiang and Ms Yang Hua, both renowned regional handball referees, were the appointed referees for this match.

Chinese Taipei was 14-men strong team and was led by the following the team officials – Lin Fu-liang, Su Ta-chih, Hsu Tai-ying and Wu Yi-shan. The Hong Kong team also featured a similar-strength squad and was led by Li Ko Kei, Lo Tak Kai, Ip Chun Wai Irv and Wong Yan Kit.

As the match commenced at 12.00pm sharp (Singapore timing) in Hall 602 of Suntec ICC, the Hong Kong players in white jerseys captured the opening goal of the match courtesy of right winger Lau Wang Kei. The Taipei team featuring Chen Po Feng, Liu You Tsung, Chen Wei Hsiang, Wu Chi Hsuan, Lu Tsung Yu, Chuang Chao Hao and Ciou You Cyuan (goalkeeper), was fast showing their prowess by scoring 4 goals by the 4^th minute, pulling the score to 4 (TPE) : 1 (HKG). The first yellow card was awarded by Referee Yu Zi Xiang to Chen Po Feng from Taipei. As the Hong Kong team attempted to fight back with active pivot play after the 7^th minute, Taipei’s Chuan Chao Hao defended well and blocked Hong Kong’s play repeatedly. Just 12minutes into the match, the score was pulled apart to 9 (Taipei) : 2 (Hong Kong). Hong Kong team called for a time-out at the 12^th minute when the score reached 9 (Taipei) : 2 (Hong Kong).

Returning to the court motivated by the coach, Hong Kong team had a turn-around in performance and put up a tougher challenge for the opponents. Hong Kong’s Liu Hoi Man drew a foul through Taipei’s Wu Chi Hsuan who pushed and was slapped with a 2-minute foul-out. A 7m penalty was given to Hong Kong and was taken by Lau Weng Ki who missed the goal. The first half ended with an excellent lob ball from Chov Hson Mim (Taipei) over a 6-men wall and goalkeeper, Siu Chi Ting.

In the second half of the game, Hong Kong team’s play took a slight change in defence which halted several of Taipei’s attempt on goal. Hong Kong was awarded a 7m penalty throw during which Taipei attempted to change keeper to take on the penalty throw but was too slow in the change and eventually forbidden by referee. However, Hong Kong was unable to convert the penalty to boost their score. Hong Kong’s 33, Kuo Sze Ming, was a scoring streak but was taken down through a block by two Taipei defenders. Kuo Sze Ming had to be rolled onto the nearest sideline and treated. After the substitution by Hong Kong, Taipei capitalized on the loss of the scoring streak. Taipei’s offensive left winger Chen Po Feng broke through the high defending line and faked a jump-shot on Hong Kong’s goalkeeper, passing the ball to his incoming teammate, Chang Ung Yuan, who flew into the 6m area and pushed the ball into the netting without much challenge. Hong Kong team displayed a highly determined attitude in this half and closed the score from the largest difference of 10 points to a mere 5 point with a final score of Chinese Taipei 31 : Hong Kong 26 and Chinese Taipei Boys Team clinching their first match win in the Singapore 1^st Youth Handball Tournament.

Written by: Janelle Koh

Photos taken by: Meiyin

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Session 1 Match 1 Report

Match 1: Girls CHINESE TAIPEI vs HONG KONG

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 – The Singapore 1st Youth Handball Tournament 2010 kicks off in the sunny island of Singapore as the country host with participating teams from Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong. This tournament will be held from 26th – 28th January 2010 in the centre city, Suntec City Convention Hall which hosted many major international events such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting. This dual leg tournament will see the brightest youth talents from the 3 countries competing against one another before the Youth Olympic Games 2010 which will be held in Singapore in August 2010.

The curtain opener match was between the girls from Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong. The Chinese Taipei team which is a regional powerhouse for handball in Asia was evident when the team was physically the stronger of both. The Taipei team started the game with a comfortable lead and started to pull away from the Hong Kong team. With an offense built around wing players, Huang Wen Yu (jersey no. 14) and Koh Fu Mei (jersey no. 17), the Taipei team was in control of the game from the start to the end. Contributing almost half the goals from the entire team, both Huang and Koh were clearly the main attacking options of the team.

The Hong Kong team took a longer time to settle into the game but was clearly not giving up the game without a good fight; playmaker Leung Sun Ying (jersey no. 4) was able to orchestrate the offensive move with good individual display of footwork and speed and managed to bring the Hong Kong team back on track. Adopting a patience approach, the Hong Kong players were finding every opportunity to break through the defence line which was held firmly by Taipei’s Shin We Ju (jersey no.4). Her towering presence was hard to go unnoticed from the spectators stand as she put pressure into every offensive play made by the Hong Kong team giving them very little opportunity to play through the middle. The Taiwanese coach, Pan Chien Hung was loud with his instructions off the court while emphasizing on the players maintenance of their defence line. By half time, Team Chinese Taipei was leading Team Hong Kong with a score of 10 – 6.

The 2nd half of the game started with Shin scoring from the middle for Team Taipei with a 5 goals difference between the two. A frenzy work of good skill and teamwork came from Huang and Koh to score a series of consecutive goals leaving the Team Hong Kong with an uphill task of keeping pace. In a span of 3 minutes, 3 penalties were concealed by Team Hong Kong as the Taiwanese pulled a commanding lead of fast breaks and wing offences. Team Taipei was quick dishing out passes in numerous figure-8 set plays and often caught the Hong Kong players unaware with their quick attack down the middle court. Although lacking in physical advantage, the Hong Kong players refused to give in with a determined strong defence.

Coordinated set plays and well drilled movements allowed the Taiwanese to lead from the start of the game to the end leaving their counterparts trailing for the entire game. Team Taipei won the match convincingly a score of 27 – 11 over Team Hong Kong.

Written by : Janelle Koh
Photos taken by: Meiyin