Singapore Handball League 2009

Match Day 6

Despite being unbeaten in the league, A-team have only posted 3 points in the league table from 3 draws obtained in their previous matches. The NTU guy’s team on the other hand have been beaten in every match they have played so far. A-team’s superiority was evident as they bull dozed their way with 8 unanswered goals in the first 10 minutes. NTU never recovered from then on and succumbed to a 35 -13 defeat. The next match featured two teams who are familiar to each other. Raffles Hall and Sheares Hall have faced each other in the previous 2 NUS Inter-Hall Games Final. Both teams were eager to prove their supremacy before they engage in their next IHG duel.  In a closely fought match, Sheares Hall drew first blood with a goal just 10 seconds into the match, only for Raffles Hall to score 3 consecutive goals and put them in the lead which they kept throughout the first half. Led by 9 metres shooter, Kasun, who scored 7 goals in the first half, Raffles Half took a slender 1 goal lead into the break. Sheares Hall was not to be undone and came back strongly in the second half with all guns blazing. Raffles Hall ran out of ideas as Sheares Hall was able to snuff out Kasun who was clearly the only threat towards Sheares’ goal. In the end Sheares Hall prevailed and won the match 27 -24.

In the afternoon session, Torpedoes meets Flynn in what could be the title decider of the season. Duels between these 2 teams always prove be a tight affair and it proved the case again in the first half as it ended with the score at 10 – 9 in Flynn’s favour. Flynn relied on some good pivot play to allow their pivot, Low Weizhen to get 3 goals in the first half.  In the second half, Torpedoes’ Max Ng and Chia Hong Huei cut through Flynn’s defence in a number of occasions and notched up a total of 5 goals. However, it was not enough to counter a Flynn’s team who could rely on 9m and wing shots to score. Flynn ran out eventual winners with a score of 22 – 16 to put themselves in a great position to finish top of the league. Flynn now just has to win one of their remaining 2 games to secure the title. The last women’s league match saw the ever improving Kesamet team matched up against a strong Breakers side. Kesamet started the match brightly and stunned their opponents as they took the lead for the entire of the first half led by their team captain Zhou Haili who scored with a couple of innovative wing shots. Half time score stood at 6 – 3, with Breakers trailing. Breakers who were able to overturn a first half deficit in the previous game did it again as they scored 10 goals in the second half and defeated Kesamet 13 – 9. As a result, Breakers consolidated their 2^nd position with Kesamet staying back in 4^th.

Match Day 7

Flynn had to beat Sheares confirm the No. 1 position and they started with a bang, scoring 6 goals back to back with Victor Lee contributing 4 of them. Flynn sailed to a comfortable half time lead of 12 – 7. In the second half Sheares fought back strongly and at one point were able to reduce the deficit to one. However, Flynn was able to work their way back to establish the five goal margin thanks to their skipper and eventual top scorer of the league, Chua Chong Joo, who scored from a number of wing shots and fast breaks. Flynn wrapped up the title with a victory of 23 -18. Despite learning that they have lost the title, Torpedoes staged a commanding performance to beat NTU 37 – 16 to cement NTU’s fate at the bottom of the group. At the same time, Flynn had to play out their last game against A-team looking for a victory to put them in third place in the league. 65 goals flew in from all over in this match as A-team prevailed against the already crowned champions with a score of 34 – 31. Rocky Glossner amassed a total of 7 goals per half in this match to share the top scorer award with Flynn’s Chong Joo.

Final Standing

Top Scorer of the League

Men’s Division – Chua Chong Joo & Rocky Glossner

Women’s Division – Andrea Ng

Match Day 5 started off with Kesamet squaring off against NTU Girls. Both teams were looking to get their first points of the league. Kesamet started strongly with a flurry of 6 unanswered goals and ended the half with a commanding 12 – 2 lead. A late rally from NTU girls in the second half where they scored a total of 10 goals was not enough. Kesamet relied on Li Huilin’s 9-metre shooting to beat NTU with a score of 25 -12 to leave NTU rooted at the bottom of the table. The next game saw Sheares Hall battle against A-Team in an ill-tempered match which saw eight 2 minute violations being awarded. A-Team took the upper-hand in the first half for all of their previous games and this game proved to be no exception. The score was 13 -10 in favour of A-Team. Sheares Hall game back strongly after the break. With seconds left on the clock, the first defeat for A-Team was written all over as Sheares took the lead and defended strongly. A moment of brilliance from Rocky Glossner, however, salvaged a point for A-Team as they sealed their 3rd draw in the league.

In the afternoon, title contenders Torpedoes had no problems seeing off a battling Raffles Hall side. Torpedoes who had 5 players scoring 4 goals or more led from start to finish as Raffles Hall was unable to match up with their free scoring opponents. Raffles Hall succumbed to a 30 – 13 defeat in the end. In the battle of second place in the Women’s Division, Breakers were able to recover from a half-time deficit to overcome a resilient NUS Girl’s Team. Breaker’s Coach Ji Wook Moon’s half-time team talk seemed to work wonders as his team scored 5 goals without reply to sail to a 3 point lead. Breakers held on to a 18 – 15 victory despite NUS threatening to rally back in a couple of occasions.

Visit our Flickr page to see more of the action from SHL 2009!

All morning games of Round 4 have to be replayed due to inclement weather. In the afternoon games, the University Derby was a one sided affair which saw NUS girl’s team easily dispatching the battling NTU girl’s with a score of 27 – 7.  Special mention goes out to Anna Soo of the NTU team who was the game’s top scorer with 7 goals despite playing on the losing side. In the next match, the top two favorites for the Women’s Open fought it out in a match that could determine the Champions. Even though Breakers drew first blood with a goal in the 2nd minute, THAS replied with 4 unanswered goals and were able to take the lead from then on. Breakers fought hard to stay in the game and were able to close the gap to two goals at the start of the second half. However, THAS managed to keep up to maintain the lead to end up eventual winners with a score of 14 – 11.

Day 3 of SHL saw NUS girls playing against Kesamet in a closely fought encounter. Nothing stood between both teams until the 40th minute as none of the two teams could break into the lead with more than two goals. Eventually, the younger and fitter NUS girls overcame their opponents with Amelia Siew scoring a crucial hat-trick of goals in the final quarter. Eventual score was 15 – 12.

In the next match, Flint look to extend their run of two straight victories on the trot as they faced A-team who had drawn their previous two games. However, A-team had other ideas as they stormed to a five goal lead in the first half. Things went from bad to worst for Flint as one of their players was excluded just one minute into the second half which resulted in Flint playing with 5 outfield players for the remaining of the match. The remaining Flint players fought hard to savage something but to no avail as A-team held out for a 28-21 win.

In the afternoon session, Raffles Hall recovered from their lost in the previous match to overcome a resilient NTU guy’s team by a score of 23 – 22. NTU put on a good fight towards the end of the game despite trailing 7 – 12 in the first half. In fact, they managed to tie the game with 2 minutes on the clock only for Koay Soo Theng to put in the winner in the last minute of the game. In the final match of the day, THAS steamrolled the NTU girl’s team, trouncing them 38 – 2. Current women’s top scorer Andrea Ng added to her overall tally with another glut of goals, bringing her overall tally to an amazing 31 goals in just 3 games.

Singapore Handball League 2009 started on the 17th of October at the NUS Outdoor Handball Courts. 6 Men’s Team and 5 Women’s Team participated in the tournament where one round round-robin is to be played between all teams. Despite playing under sweltering heat, all teams gave their all in the first two rounds of competition.

In the curtain raiser of the Men’s division, Torpedoes overcame their opponent Sheares Hall with a comfortable score of 35 – 20. Champions of this year’s SHBCC, THAS, had a relatively easy game against Kesamet in the first match of the Women’s division. Kesamet found it hard to subdue THAS’s Andrea Ng who scored a total of 12 goals in the game. The final score was 28 – 7 in favor of THAS. In the next Men’s game, A-Team, made up of a number of expatriates, was matched against Raffles Hall, who are preparing for the upcoming NUS Inter-Hall Games. This supposedly one sided affair turn out to be the most exciting match for the day with leads changing hands almost every minute. At the end of the day, both teams share the spoils with the eventual result 15 – 15. The final game of the day saw SHBCC Men’s Champion, Flynn play against a depleted NTU guy’s team. Flynn’s Chua Chong Joo and Stanley Chan scored a combine total of 17 goals to lead Flynn to a convincing 32 -21 points victory.

In the first match of Day 2, powerhouse THAS were to play SUNIG Champions NUS girls’ team. THAS stormed to an unassailable 10 point lead in the first half. The NUS girls improved their performance in the second half scoring a total of 7 goals but it was too little too late as they succumbed to a 24 – 10 defeat. The next women’s match featured Breakers and NTU girls’ team. The newly formed NTU girls’ team found the going tough against the experienced Breakers team who bulldozed their way to a 27 – 3 victory. The most exciting match of the day again featured A-Team who was to play Torpedoes in a see-saw game. It seemed as if A-Team had placed their disappointing draw with Raffles Hall out of their mind by sailing to a 10 – 5 lead in the first half of the match. However, the persistent Torpedoes team came back into the game with a flurry of 9 unanswered goals at the restart. Just as the bruised and battered A-Team seemed down and out with one of their players dismissed for collecting a third 2 minute violation, Torpedoes loosen their grip in the last 10 minutes. In the end, there was nothing to separate the teams as the teams were deadlock at 18 – 18 at the final whistle.

In the afternoon session, both teams, NTU guys and Sheares Hall were boosted by the return of Michel Ingold and Dhinesh S/O Silvarati respectively. Both players were unable to make it for the first game and started their debut with a bang, scoring 12 goals a piece. Sheares Hall had the upperhand for the entire match and won the game with a score of 33 – 24. In the last game of the day, friends turned to foes on the handball court as Flynn, who were made up mostly of Raffles Hall Alumni, played against Raffles Hall team. Experience was eminent as Flynn was able to chalk up a high scoring 42 -29 victory over their counterparts with Chua Chong Joo continuing with his free-scoring accolades scoring 13 goals in the match.