Youth Olympic Handball: Singapore take 27-20 advantage into 5th/6th playoff second leg against Cook Islands

Story by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports. Photos by Lee Ying Quan/Red Sports

International Convention Centre, Monday, August 23, 2010 — After two tough opening matches against Brazil and Egypt where they were beaten by massive scorelines, the Singapore boys’ handball team finally welcomed their first victory by beating Cook Islands 27-20 in the first leg of the fifth and sixth place playoff.

It was a determined performance by the Singapore boys who wanted to make amends for their earlier losses. They trailed 1-0 just 14 seconds into the game, but did not take long to get their act together with forward Arun Vinoth Perumal Pillay (#9) equalising a minute later with a superb shimmy and low shot into the goal.

They took the lead three minutes later through Wilmer Tay’s (#7) goal and did not relinquish it for the remainder of the match as Cook Islands found trouble putting up with Singapore’s plucky play and good passing.

Wilmer was the top scorer of the half with four goals while Vinoth contributed three. Coach Wang Mingxing introduced captain Ervin Sethi (#10) and pivot Muhd Zahin Mazali (#13) after 15 minutes, with both also getting on the scoresheet with two and one goal each.

By half-time, Singapore were 15-10 ahead.

They continued where they left off in the opening seven minutes of the second half. It was their best spell of dominance as they scored four without reply to go 19-10 ahead. Vinoth’s physical presence and predatory instincts continued to trouble Cook Islands’ defence as he picked up three of the four goals.

Goalkeeper Izzat Hashim Siraj’s (#1) fantastic reflexes also kept the score down as he saved 23 of Cook Island’s 41 shots. He capped his performance with a superb penalty save from Cook Islands’ Tapi Mataora which earned loud applause from the Singapore fans in the stands.

Oscar Ooi (#3) and substitute Muhd Zahin Mazali rounded off Singapore’s scoring with five minutes to go, increasing Singapore’s lead to 27-16. Oscar’s goal was a result of a superb five-pass flowing move that started from Izzat.

They had the luxury to take their foot off the pedal in the closing stages, conceding four straight goals to Cook Islands, but most importantly they will hold a seven-goal advantage going into the second leg.

Captain Ervin Sethi was a satisfied man after the match.

“After the first two losses, we came back here giving our all and wanting our first win. We played well but we made a lot of individual mistakes, so we will look to minimize that and make every effort count,” said the 16-year-old.

When asked about the importance of getting fifth place, he responded, “From the start, we aimed for the semi-finals. We didn’t manage to make it so we’re determined to get the fifth place. This result puts us one step closer there.”

Meanwhile star performer Arun Vinoth Perumal Pillay, who was the top scorer with eight goals, played down his performance, saying that “it was the whole team’s effort”.

When asked about the second leg, he said, “Of course we’ll be aiming to do much better, to reduce our own mistakes and make better use of our chances. We can play much better because we missed quite a few chances today. There won’t be any more excuses for that tomorrow.”

The second leg of the match will be played on Tuesday, August 24th, at 3pm at the same venue.