Raffles Institution win fourth consecutive A Division water polo title with victory over Hwa Chong

CCAB, Tuesday, April 13, 2010 – The pressure of being defending champions for three years straight didn't get to Raffles Institution as they made light work of Hwa Chong Institution, winning 8-2 in the final of the A Division Water Polo Championship.

With the win, Raffles Institution won their four title in a row with ex-Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) captain Rishi Shankar Pandey scoring a hat-trick while Ng Wei Shen and Marcus Lee added a brace each to secure victory for Raffles.

They took the lead early in the match and although Hwa Chong briefly levelled through Tan Hong Wei, there was no stopping Raffles from there as they extended their lead throughout the match.

These two sides came into the final scoring a combined total of 126 goals in the preliminary rounds where they met and drew 7-7.

In the final, Raffles took the game to Hwa Chong, drawing first blood in the 1.28 minute through Ng Wei Shen. The lead didn't last long however, when Hwa Chong soon got a 6-on-5 opportunity off a Marcus Ng exclusion foul. They took full advantage of it with Tan Hong Wei turning the ball in from close range.

Raffles were the ones pushing for the lead and they soon restored it with Rishi Shankar Pandey scoring two similar goals from the left. This gave Raffles a 3-1 lead going into the first break.

The second quarter was when Raffles extended their lead to a massive four goals to effectively end the match as a contest. Marcus Lee scored with 1.29 into the quarter with a shot to the far post from the right while Andrew Khan added another two minutes later to extend Raffles' lead to 5-1.

In the third quarter, Hwa Chong were trying to get back into the match but they were constantly stonewalled by the Raffles defense. Pushing men forward left holes at the back and the defending champions were quick to exploit them.

Ng Wei Shen started a counter-attack when he left Hwa Chong's defense trailing with his sprint before threading the ball through to Rishi Shankar Pandey who easily completed his hat-trick. This gave Raffles a 6-1 lead, further extending their lead to five goals going into the final quarter.

Hwa Chong finally scored again midway in the fourth quarter with Aaron Ho scoring through a 6-on-5, but that only sparked Raffles into action. Marcus Lee and Ng Wei Shen then added another two for Raffles before the final buzzer as they wrapped up their fourth consecutive A Division title.

"The gold was there for the taking," said Raffles captain Chiam Kun Yang. "We came into the match confident but not complacent and the result didn't disappoint us. I feel very proud of my team. It is definitely not easy considering the training hours of training that we have put in to retain the title.

"In our previous match [in the earlier round], we weren't playing at our best, but I can safely say this was our best performance of the season. We prepared well for this match and did everything right, taking an early lead in the first half and holding on in the second," added Kun Yang.

"It is wonderful feeling to retain the title for the fourth consecutive year with our school pride at stake."

N.B. If you recognise the players in the photos, let us know their names and we’ll update the captions. Thanks.