Hail the new National A Division Netball champions of 2009, Anglo-Chinese Junior College

Story by REDintern Alethia Tiang. Pictures by Marvin Lowe.

Bedok Sports Hall, Friday, May 15, 2009 - Last year's runners-up, Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC), made a triumphant comeback to claim the championship title from defending champions Raffles Institution in the A Division Netball Championship final.

Having lost to Raffles by a close 50-51 margin in last year’s final, ACJC tasted sweet victory with a 61-48 win this year.

Both teams were equally matched in the first quarter. ACJC played with agility, pressuring a Raffles side that handled the pressure with good defense.

ACJC soon gained the lead by converting almost 100% of their shots at the net to pull away from Raffles to lead 14-9 at the end of the first quarter.

The ACJC players began to be slightly complacent in the second quarter to give Raffles the opportunity to rack up more points. Both teams put in 15 points each in the half and ACJC led by 29-24 at the half-time break.

Raffles started to show signs of uncertainty as they missed many opportunities to get their points. On the defensive end, Raffles GK Cheryl Lee constantly tussled for the ball against ACJC’s GS Natalie to prevent her from scoring.

ACJC were undaunted by Raffles' aggression and managed to keep a cool head to build a 12-point lead as supporters from both teams made their presence felt.

In the final quarter, Raffles scored the first point but the rest of the quarter was ACJC who pulled further ahead to a 15-point lead and eventual victory.

ACJC captain Deborah Rowe (GA), vice-captain Koh Wei Ru (GD) and team member Natalie Long (GS) were so overwhelmed with emotions that they were unable to express their jubilation.

"No words can describe what we are feeling right now. We really wanted this very much, especially after last year's painful defeat to Raffles by one point."

All of them featured in the close encounter last year against Raffles.

They were still unable to believe their victory as they recalled their journey to the final.

"We had a lot of ups and downs, tough trainings, long runs. At the start of our campaign, we had a few bad games and our coach was very angry with us. But slowly, we started picking up and we cannot believe it that we have won now!"

The disappointment of Raffles was evident as they shed tears on the court. However, the team displayed true team unity, team spirit and sportsmanship in their game with ACJC and deserve to be commended for their determination.

Brenda Xie (WA), Captain of the Raffles team, said, "They were the better team, but we gave our all. We're proud of ourselves."

This year's National A Division Netball Championship also saw Hwa Chong Institution finish in third and St. Andrews Junior College in fourth.