Story by REDintern Alethia Tiang. Pictures by Marvin Lowe.
RI GK Cheryl Lee leaps in to block ACJC GS Natalie Long from shooting. (Photo 1 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
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.
ACJC WA Rachel Thong hangs on to a difficult pass. (Photo 2 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GA Xinyi catches a pass. (Photo 3 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GK Cheryl Lee demonstrates her unique leaping abilities with this jump block on ACJC GS Natalie Long. (Photo 4 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GK Cheryl tries to knock the ball out of ACJC GS Natalie’s hands. (Photo 5 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
ACJC WA Rachel Thong hangs on to a pass. (Photo 6 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI WA Brenda gets her hand to intercept the ball from ACJC WD Tatyana. (Photo 7 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GK Cheryl tries to knock the ball away from ACJC GS Natalie. (Photo 8 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GK Cheryl Lee gets her hand to the ball held by ACJC GS Natalie Long who clashes into team mate Rachel Thong. (Photo 9 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
ACJC WD Tatyana hangs on to a pass. (Photo 10 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI WA Brenda Xie clashes into ACJC WD Tatyana as they fight for possession of the ball. (Photo 11 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
ACJC GA Deborah jumps to block a pass. (Photo 12 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GK Cheryl clashes with ACJC GS Natalie and Rachel as they fight for the ball. (Photo 13 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI WD Nicolette Gan jumps to block ACJC GS Natalie Long. (Photo 14 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI WA Brenda Xie fails to hang onto a difficult pass. (Photo 15 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GK Cheryl Lee manages to knock the ball out of ACJC GS Natalie’s hand. (Photo 16 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
ACJC WD Tatyana stretches her hand in an attempt to intercept the ball for RI WA Brenda Xie. (Photo 17 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GK Cheryl Lee challenging ACJC GS Natalie for a rebound. (Photo 18 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
ACJC GK Beverly Shaddick challenging RI GS Christina for the ball. (Photo 19 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
ACJC GS Natalie Long out-jumps RI GK Cheryl Lee to catch the ball. (Photo 20 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
ACJC GK Beverly Shaddick tries to knock the ball out of RI GS Christina’s hand. (Photo 21 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GK Cheryl Lee trying to block ACJC GS Natalie Long. (Photo 22 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
ACJC C Nashita puts her hand in to knock the ball away from RI C Suhaila. (Photo 23 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GK Cheryl Lee and ACJC GS Natalie tussling for a rebound. (Photo 24 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
RI GD Nicolette Gan jumps to block ACJC GA Deborah from shooting. (Photo 25 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
ACJC Captain Deborah Rowe and Goalshooter Natalie Long in an emotional embrace at the end of the game. (Photo 26 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
neutral maybe you’re not very neutral or you can’t really see but the guy there is trying not to stoke the fires? and you, of course, have to be so extra and talk rubbish, well done.
anon, last i remembered, sajc thrashed acjc by about 30 points in the group stage. so please get too uppity about your own team
seetow. maybe you started the whole “childish verbal warfare” by flaunting. its good that rj has talents and they have won many gold medals. but so? you dont have to flaunt it. no victory is guaranteed. there are sports that rj dont do well in too, right.
kudos to both teams, i was there at the finals and i’m glad that both teams put up a really awesome game. congrats to acjc (:
good luck to both teams for rugby finals 😀
@anon
Why do you tempt me in engaging in such childish verbal warfare? As the mature Rafflesian that I am, I shall refrain from such adolescence.
In fact, both teams have lost a game each in the season, to the teams that the other team beat in their respective semi finals match. So please, let’s leave the verbal abuse aside and enjoy a momentous final on friday, shall we?
is acsi in the rugby finals? oh wait they’re NOT. awwwww how sad. they lost to ACJC. too bad.
noob: unlimited resources? are you sure? hmmm.
anyway, everyone should just stop complaining. damn it, s’poreans will always be s’poreans.
ACJC won so thats it. RI should also be praised because they’ve worked hard to make it to the finals. in fact, every team worked hard. so yea.
@seetow
lol the very same “very strong raffles rugby team” that went down to acsi 12-3? How very strong indeed.
Lol seetow’s right, does everyone have to bicker about who is better and who should have won and who does or does not have sportsmanship? Sportsmanship comes from the individual and not from the school so perhaps we should stop forming stupid stereotypes about schools.
So, may the BETTER team win this friday at rug!
Yeah, hopefully the rugby finals is a good one 🙂 AC all the way!
HAHA why am I an ass now? My bad, didn’t know ACJC had won golf and bowling. Congrats on your 3rd gold then! Maybe your next one will come from rugby 😉 though you’d have to plough through a very strong raffles rugby team first!
Why the angst? Isn’t sports all about having fun and competing to test each other’s skill and will? Can’t we keep it that way? What I meant was just that it was a pity that with that loss, we all RI(JC)/RJ can’t top our 2007 record of golds that’s all… No need to get all riled up and sensitive over this kind of thing. Meant it in good spirit.
Good luck to both teams in Rugby finals this friday! =)
Yes ppl, just give it a break already. Even the RJ captain admitted they lost to the better team so just accept it. The players from both schools are good friends anyw. Maria Rowe is not related to Deborah Rowe. Coincidental I guess.
eh is deborah rowe maria rowe’s sister? you know the soccer player who was from sajc.
ohmyyyy! why are people commenting all these? omggg! you guys are ridiculos. every game have a winner & a loser, so be it, whether ACJC wins the finals or not. afterall, it’s a game where they play competitively. RI may be the stroger team, but with better efforts put in by ACJC i think they’re equally good, if not they wouldn’t have win the title this year! good game ACJC! 😀
agreed. the players from both sides shook hands and hugged after the final whistle, and it was a heartening sight. acjc was the better side that day and deserved to win. that’s it, it’s over, everybody tries again next year.
see tow dun be an ass
what’s funny and ironic is that whilst the supporters and detractors are arguing on the sidelines, the players are probably fine with the results.
let’s just shut up and move on. grow up.
if acjc is known for not being well-liked among jcs in singapore then perhaps rj should be considered one as well. If we see from all the comments, it seem that rj supporters are very bitter with the loss and they just keep on commenting on the players and stuffs. The match official is the one who owns the right to judge whether a player is eligible or not.whats wrong with having 19 year olds?i bet rj do have in some other sports?
come on guys. u all claim that RIJC deserve to win and that ACJC was just lucky. do u all think this is fair to ACJC? last year, acjc lost it because of the umpires. it was clear biased-ness on the umpires’ side and nobody said anything. this year, acjc was clearly the better team. they led throughout the whole game. and i dont see a problem with angmohs and 19 year olds in the team. it doesnt mean that u’re older means u’re better. and AC is going to be equally good next year. 4 of the 7 players are j1s. AC and RI will both fight for the championship next year. pls dont assume who’s going to win just yet.
It’s RI(JC) btw…not RJ anymore. As for whether they will be champs next year, i wouldn’t say it’s a definite. It would really depend on the players that Miss Chng will choose to bring in from her pool of schools. Right now, the defense is pretty solid with nicolette and cheryl. so it’s really what kind of mid court players and shooters she can bring in next year. Same thing for AC, if they bring in the right mix, maybe the IJ girls, it will definitely be a close fight between this two teams again.
hmm…i am not sure if you have been following the A Division competition this year. From what I have seen and observed, ACJC have been the better performing team in the weeks leading up to the finals. For e.g. in the semis/quarters, ACJC have been scoring more than RI leh. So you are right, that RI wasn’t on form, but their lack of form started before the finals.
just a side note, i think beverly’s eurasian, not caucasian? and really, does the race or age really matter?
RJ netball all the way. seetow, GREAT COMMENT. oh btw, i aint frm rj, but i think rj netball should have won the title. ac isnt a better team at all, rj just wasnt really on form, i’ve seen them play and they totally desrve the title. but ac was lucky they played well so oh well. of course there’s nothing people can do to take the title away frm ac so stop being so defensive. whoever assumed the title was going to be taken away. gosh, grow up. rj netball will be champions next year. and anyway ac people totally have no sportsmanship, they cheer when gk cheryl ann lee is pushed onto the floor by the player. that probably shows why ac people are known for not being well-liked among jcs in spore.
no pt arguing here so just stop it. i agree with passerby she’s hot!