Youth Olympic Handball: Singapore go down 7-50 to Egypt in opening match

Story by Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports. Photos by Lee Ying Quan and Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Suntec Convention Hall, Friday, August 20, 2010 — Singapore went down to Egypt 50-7 in the opening match of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Handball competition. Although the game started shakily for Singapore, the hosts picked up their confidence and turned in a better performance in the second half where they scored five of their seven goals.

The nervous Singapore team made several errors at the start, giving the Egyptians a 10-0 run. They only managed to break their scoring drought when Koh Jing Li (#15) scored Singapore’s first goal in the tenth minute after spotting a loophole in Egypt’s defence.

Taking advantage of their height and agility, the Egyptians scored another seven goals before Singapore’s Oscar Ooi (#3) scored a goal after Egypt’s Mostafa Awadalla (#11) missed the fastbreak. With five players on the Egyptian team weighing in at over 100kg, and the average height of the players ranging between 1.8-1.9m, Singapore certainly had a tough time trying to break Egypt’s defense.

In the dying minutes of first half, Kareem Elemenshawy (#14) of Egypt intercepted several balls at the shooting area to allow Egypt to add three goals to their tally. They led 20-2 at half-time.

The second half saw Egypt adding speed to the game via several changes to their line-up. Singapore found no solution to the fastbreaks from the Egyptians, allowing Egypt to go on a 4-0 run.

Jing Li then seized another opportunity from the gap in Egypt’s defence to score the third goal for Singapore at the 35th minute, giving their supporters a reason to cheer.

An offensive foul from Egypt’s Omar Elmaarry (#41) a minute later gave Singapore a penalty which Tow Wen Wei (#8) converted to register Singapore’s fourth goal.

Despite Singapore’s attempts, Egypt scored 11 consecutive goals to further widen their lead to 36-4 before Jing Li (#15) scored a goal, his third for the night, at the 45th minute.

Arun Vinoth Perumal Pillay (#9) of Singapore saw his efforts rewarded when scored his first goal of the match in the 49th minute after his opponents left him open. Arun had made the most attempts on goal in the team, and finally converted one to bring the score to 39-6.

Singapore continued to show impressive fighting spirit, with Jason Tan scoring the last goal for the hosts after making a turnover. However, Egypt eventually sealed victory with a score of 50-7.

Jing Li, Singapore’s top scorer, shared about his experience in the match: “Egypt is a very tough opponent. We were very scared initially as they are much taller and bigger.”

Being the scorer of Singapore’s first goal, the ITE student added, “I was very proud of myself. My parents were cheering for me on the stand. I am aiming to score ten goals in this tournament.”

Despite suffering a heavy defeat, Singapore’s coach Wong Ming Xing, who was previously a handball coach in China, was pleased with the team’s performance. She commented, “We played at our standard. They have showcased an impressive dare-to-fight spirit.”

Final result
Singapore 7
Koh Jing Li (#15) – 12′, 35′, 45′
Oscar Ooi (#3) – 21′
Toh Wen Wei (#8) – 35′
Arun Vinoth Perumal Pillay (#9) – 49′
Jason Tan (#9) – 58′

Egypt 50
Mostafa Awadalla (#15) – 1′, 27′, 39′, 42′, 49′, 56′, 59′
Mohamed Maher (#18) – 2′, 54′
Alley Mohsen (#3) – 3′, 5′, 7′, 8′, 13′, 16′, 59′ 60′
Karim Abderhim (#8) – 5′, 10′, 11′, 30′, 31′, 32′, 45′, 47′, 53′, 54′
Mostafa Khalil (#4) – 9′
Mostafa Bechir (#11) – 14′, 31′, 42′
Kareem Elmenshawy (#14) – 15′, 17′, 23′, 38′, 46′, 53′
Abdelrahman Shatta (#20) – 18′, 20′, 26′
Ahmed Ibrahim (#9) – 24′, 41′, 44′
Aly Agamy (#10) – 35′, 39′
Omar Elmaarry (#41) – 40′, 50′, 52′, 54′
Ahmed Elwan (#30) – 44′

Singapore lineup
Hashim Siraj Izzat (#1, GK), Low Jun Ting Alvin (#14, GK)
Ooi Junhao Oscar (#3, left back), Perumal Pillay Arun Vinoth (#9, left back), Tow Wen Wei (#8, centre back), Ervin Sethi (#10, centre back), Ryan Goh Su-Shien (#5, right back), Jason Tan Jun Jie (#6, right back)
Pritpal Singh (#4 left winger), Tay Ze Jun Wilmer (#7, left winger), Clement Choong (#2, right winger), Eugene Foo Zhi Jun (#11, right winger)
Muhd Zahin Mazali (#13, pivot), Koh Jing Li (#15, pivot)

Coach: Wang Mingxing

For more photos, go to the next page.