Singapore finish 3rd in Tchoukball at Taiwan World Games

Contributed by reader Jeff Ang

Kaohsiung, Taiwan, July 16-26, 2009 – The World Games preparations had begun exactly a year ago, right after the Asia Pacific Tchoukball Championships in Hong Kong. Singapore had finished as runner-up behind Chinese Taipei, the reigning world champion; and thus qualified as one of the Asia representatives for the multi-sports World Games held from 16-26 July 2009 at Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Besides Chinese Taipei (ranked 2nd in the world), we were up against the top qualifiers from the other continents - Switzerland (ranked 1st) and Great Britain (ranked 3rd) from Europe, Canada (6th) from North America and Brazil (5th) from the South America. (They were eventually replaced by Macau as they were unable to raise the money for their travel)

For us in Singapore, who only started playing Tchoukball in 2006, to come up against these powerhouse countries with over 12 years of playing experiences, it was certainly a daunting task as we set ourselves the goal of winning a World Games medal. Towards the last two months, the boys trained 4 times a week, averaging 15 hours weekly. It was a tough but fulfilling journey!

The six men's teams were to play against one another in a round robin format and the top two teams will then play off for the gold medal while the 3rd and 4th teams in the group will play off for the bronze medal.

On Match Day One of the tournament, our first match was against Chinese Taipei and we duly lost 71-36 as our opponents were streets ahead of every other team in terms of their skills. Our key players were rested to prepare for the key match against Canada in the afternoon. We knew that Canada was a slightly weaker team among the non-Asian teams and that they did not have a good preparation for the World Games. We were then able to take the game to the Canadians and beat them 50-47, leaving them shell-shocked and they eventually finished the tournament at fifth place with just 1 win and 4 defeats. This victory is significant to us as it marked the first time we had beaten a team from outside Asia! More importantly, we have put ourselves in medal contention as we needed just two wins to make the 3rd place playoff and we were quite certain of a win against Macau.

Match Day Two saw Singapore playing against Macau, Great Britain and Switzerland. The team draws was not kind to us as we had to play our first match at 8.30am and finished our last match only at 9.30pm. The match against Macau went as planned, with several of our key players rested for the Great Britain match, and Singapore finished with a comfortable 70-27 victory and thus assuring Singapore a minimal fourth placing.

The match against Great Britain was very close as the lead changed sides several times. However, we have done our homework well and our opponents struggled to contain our potent offense. Our team started to gain the upper hand in the 2nd period and never let go of the small lead we had in the last period. It was a nail-biting finish as our Singapore team surged forward to take the match 53-48! We had finally defeated Great Britain, currently ranked 3rd in the world!

It was game on as the significance of our victories over Canada, Macau and Great Britain sunk in. If we can beat Switzerland in our last group match, we will finish 2nd in the group and will be assured of at least a silver medal in the playoff. Lose and we will have to play against Great Britain again on match day 3 for the bronze medal.

The match against Switzerland started well for Singapore as we battled the top ranked team to a 21-21 draw by the end of the 1st period. However, a series of mistakes from us at the start of the 2nd period gave them a commanding lead that the more experienced Swiss never did quite let go. The final score read 52-63.

We were quite shattered by the defeat as we felt that we had them on the rope in the first period and many of our boys wept uncontrollably as the realization of a potential silver medal has slipped though our hand. Real men do cry.

So it was the bronze medal playoff for Singapore on Day Three and the urgent task was to restore the team's broken spirit and get ourselves ready for the most important match of our short history. Will we be emotionally ready?

On Match Day Three, Singapore's match with Great Britain was scheduled at 10.20 am and the whole hall was packed with over 1,000 spectators and media for both the Men and Women's playoffs. Singapore did not start well this time in the opening exchanges and quickly fell behind by a few points.

Is this the end of our quest for a World Games medal, we thought to ourselves.

Thankfully, the boys were able to contain their nerves and started to play well. Their efforts paid off and we ended the first period with a 3-point lead. We were quietly confident now that we have the measure of the Great Britain team. Unfortunately the lead was wiped out within a minute of the 2nd period and we had to start again on level grounds. Perhaps it was the effort the British team made in catching up but as we stepped up our play, they were unable to match us and we took a commanding 11-point lead that we never did let go again.

Though the lead was reduced during the final period by the determined Brits who made one last mighty effort, we were able to maintain our excellent play and when the whistle blew, the final score was 46-42!

We were all elated and excited! YES! We did it! Singapore has won the bronze medal!

I think the fact that we have won a World Games medal has not quite sunk in yet and perhaps when we look back later, we will remember how we started as the underdogs in this tournament and that we set out to achieve something that seemed impossible and the fact that we had achieved it through hard work and a belief in ourselves.

Now we will prepare for the next Asia Pacific Tchoukball Championships, to be hosted by Singapore in July 2010. We will be sending teams for the Men and Women, U18 Boys & Girls and also the U12 Boys & Girls categories.