Chua Chu Kang Primary basketballers win inaugural Fastbreak Challenge Cup

Contributed by reader Lynne Tay

Kranji Primary School, December 13, 2008 – Chua Chu Kang Primary beat Kheng Cheng Primary 79-70 in the Seniors Division to win the inaugural FastBreak Challenge Cup for primary school basketball teams.

From December 9th to 13th, 16 boys teams participated in this tournament, competing in two divisions (Seniors and Juniors) using a round-robin format. Top primary schools like Kheng Cheng, Kranji and Chua Chu Kang each sent two teams for this event.

In the Seniors Division, Chua Chu Kang met Kheng Cheng in the crucial game to determine the winner. Missed free-throws, lay-ups and turnovers by Kheng Cheng eventually helped Chua Chu Kang to claim victory.

All-Stars from the top four teams were MVP Glennard Manalo and Pay Xuan Ju from Chua Chu Kang, Jack Albanese from FastBreak, Franz Nalzaro from Kranji and Wesley Teo from Kheng Cheng.

In the Junior Division, FastBreak Basketball Club put on a good fight and had an eight-point lead at the end of the first half. However, Kranji proved to be more dominating with strong rebounds and powerful under-baskets and won the game 60-46 to wrap up the championship title with a perfect 6-0 record.

All-Star trophies in the Junior Division were awarded to Muhammad Naqib from Changkat, Tng Zhi Cai from Kheng Cheng, Jack Denzel from FastBreak and Warren Wong from Kranji. Kranji's Zeng Mao Zhou was named Tournament MVP.

“Our primary purpose in organizing this tournament is to expand our relationship with the local basketball community,” said Michael Denzel, whose FastBreak players come primarily from the Singapore American School.  “The tournament gives us an opportunity to measure ourselves against the top school teams in Singapore, at the same time providing them a warm-up for the coming National Schools league.”

Primary Schools and clubs participating in this year's tournament:
Anderson  (Jrs. & Srs.)
Catholic High (Srs.)
Changkat (Jrs.)
Chua Chu Kang (Jrs. & Srs.)
FastBreak Basketball Club (Jrs. & Srs.)
First Tao Payoh (Jrs. & Srs.)
Kheng Cheng (Jrs. & Srs.)
Kranji (Jrs. & Srs.)
Northland (Jrs. & Srs.)