Update by Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports

River Valley High School, Friday, January 29, 2009 – C Division West Zone Netball defending champions River Valley High School have won three consecutive matches and are looking to enter the second round with a perfect win-loss record. River Valley High trounced Westwood Secondary 21-10, thrashed Hillgrove Secondary 39-1, and beat NUS High School 24-2 in their preliminary games.

While River Valley High had an easy time, the same could not be said for the rest of the schools in Group A. Commonwealth Secondary narrowly beat Kranji Secondary 28-26 while Westwood edged out Kranji Secondary 30-29. Commonwealth would need to beat Westwood to qualify for second round and beat River Valley to finish top of the group.

In Group B, 2009 C Division National Championshipl first runners-up Methodist Girls’ School beat Yuan Ching Secondary 16-9 and thrashed Chua Chu Kang 44-0. The dark horses of the tournament, Bukit Panjang Government High, thrashed Chua Chu Kang 58-0 and knocked out Yusof Ishak 51-2. Yuan Ching Secondary will need to beat Bukit Panjang Government High to keep their hopes of qualification alive.

In Group C, underdogs Zhenghua Secondary edged out West Zone semi-finalists Clementi Town Secondary 16-13 while dark horses of the group, West Spring Secondary, narrowly beat Zhenghua Secondary and Tanglin Secondary 23-20 and 21-19 respectively.

Zhenghua Secondary would need to beat Tanglin Secondary to prevent an early end of their campaign while West Spring would need to beat Clementi Town Secondary to finish top of the group and to have a higher chance to qualify for the semi-finals, which would be a first for both teams.

Unlike Group C, netball powerhouses Nanyang Girls’ High and Nan Hua High have had a good start in Group D. Nan Hua High toppled Dunearn and Unity Secondary 48-4 and 47-1 respectively while Nanyang Girls’ High thrashed Regent Secondary and Bukit Batok Secondary 36-12 and 28-6 respectively. Nanyang Girls’ High will now play Nan Hua High to determine who finishes top of the group.