CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) overcome Cedar Girls’ challenge in B Division South Zone netball quarter-finals

Story and photos by REDintern Alethia Tiang

Co-Curricular Activities Branch, Wednesday, February 25, 2009 – CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) (CHIJ TP) played a gruelling match against Cedar Girls’ Secondary School today under the scorching sun and emerged 39-33 victors in a B Division South Zone Netball Championship quarter-final.

It was a very aggressive and arduous game for both teams, with many contact and obstruction fouls called during the game. The match was expected to be a very exciting one, as both teams had made it to the top four of both the B Division South Zone and the National Championship last year. Cedar were ranked third in the zonal competition and fourth in the national championship while CHIJ TP were ranked second in both the zonal and national championships.

The game was not an easy one to call with both teams’ supporters having a competition of their own on the sidelines with their cheering. Both teams matched each other goal for goal, each fighting to take control of the game from the other. With every goal scored by CHIJ TP, Cedar would match it, and vice versa. CHIJ TP and Cedar played aggressively and swiftly, ending the first quarter tied 10-10.

Cedar showed some signs of fatigue in the second quarter, but showed no signs of giving up as they wanted to keep CHIJ TP within reach. CHIJ TP were doing a very good job of pressuring Cedar, putting up a very strong defense. Furthermore, CHIJ TP were taller and bigger than most of the the Cedar players and ended the second quarter leading 19-18.

Cedar fought back in the third quarter as the aggression level in the game rose. Refusing to let their smaller statures be a disadvantage, Cedar tried their hardest to defend against their opponents. However, CHIJ TP were faster than Cedar, making Cedar very nervous with every point scored, causing them to make small mistakes like breaking their starting line too early. The Cedar aggression paid off and they finished the third quarter leading 28-27.

The final quarter proved to be the most invigorating. Cedar were matching CHIJ TP’s aggressive play, with both teams fighting fiercely to gain the lead. Both teams were scoring the same number of goals, not wanting the other to gain the lead. As the quarter wore on, Cedar’s lack of stamina was their undoing and CHIJ TP gained the control of the game to win the game by a six-goal margin of 39-33.

Wendy, 15, and Shi Pei, 15, captains of the CHIJ TP team, both agreed that they “could have done much better. I think we are very tired because we’ve been playing for the past few days.” According to them, Cedar had put up a very good fight, saying that this game was “the most challenging”.

With this victory, CHIJ TP have won all three quarter-final stage games and will move on to play in the B Division South Zone semi-final against Raffles Girls’ Secondary School.

The final two places in the semi-finals will be highly contested by the teams from Cedar Girls’, St Margaret’s Secondary and Ang Mo Kio Secondary.

Congratulations to CHIJ TP on an excellent game played.