Samuel Yu (left) of Singapore faces off against Xie Ze Kai of China. Samuel had two goals in the 8–0 victory. (Photo 1 © Danny Toh. Received via Ho Shu Fen/Full Circle)
Toa Payoh Swimming Complex, Thursday, October 3, 2013 – Singapore beat China 8–0 for their third win in a row in the 3rd Asian Water Polo Cup. Singapore had beaten the Philippines 22–2 in their opening game and followed that up with an 8–4 victory over Kuwait.
Samuel Yu (2), Yip Yang (1), Eugene Teo (1), Lim Yao Xiang (1), Paul Tan (1) and Koh Jian Ying (1) scored the goals for the home team, hitting the target in 8 of 26 attempts on the China goal.
“Today’s match performance was very efficient because we managed to convert most of our chances and defended well,” said Paul Tan, 29, vice-captain of Singapore. “We roughly knew where we stood with them because we’ve trained with our youth team and watched some of their games. Both teams put up a good fight in spite of the fatigue, which was very draining in the third period where no goals were scored.”
This was the second defeat for China. They lost their opening game 6–10 to Iran and followed that up with a 23–5 win over Sri Lanka.
“I don’t believe in excuses. Singapore played better and so they won,” said Ricardo Azevedo, 57, the head coach of China. “Of course I do consider the fact that our team has been playing for 10 days, and I gave them the day off to have fun at Sentosa this morning. That said, they need to learn how to play even when they are tired, and this will be a lesson learnt.”
Singapore will next play powerhouses Iran who are unbeaten in three games. Iran thrashed Sri Lanka 30–1 tonight and the Philippines 25–4 in an earlier game.
“Traditionally, Iran is a tough team to play against and have always been the top two in Asia, but we haven’t played each other in a while and a lot of things can happen,” said Paul Tan.
For Lee Sai Meng, the Singapore head coach, the win over China was encouraging.
“The result [against China] is a good one and very encouraging for our next two games, especially against Iran because they are physically bigger and stronger than most of us. I think the level of energy was lower today because both teams have had to deal with fatigue,” said Sai Meng.
Singapore Squad
Nigel Tay (#1), Lin Diyang (#2), Loh Zhi Zhi (#3), Eugene Teo (#4), Lim Yao Xiang (#5), Paul Tan (#6), Chiam Kun Yang (#7), Samuel Yu (#8), Toh Zhi Hong (#9), Sean Ang (#10), Yip Yang (#11), Koh Jian Ying (#12), Byron Quek (#13)
Score by Quarter
Singapore vs China
1st Q: 3–0
2nd Q: 3–0 (6–0)
3rd Q: 0–0 (6–0)
4th Q: 2–0
Final Score: 8–0
Results
Day 3
Philippines 3 Kuwait 22
Sri Lanka 1 Iran 30
Singapore 8 China 0
Day 2
Iran 25 Philippines 4
China 23 Sri Lanka 5
Kuwait 4 Singapore 8
Day 1
Singapore 22 Philippines 2
Sri Lanka 7 Kuwait 26
China 6 Iran 10
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