IVP Netball: NTU down rivals NUS 41-32 while SIM beat SMU 45-33 on opening day

Story by Noor Farhan/Red Sports. Pictures by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Republic Polytechnic Sports Complex, Wednesday, January 12, 2011 — Defending champions Nanyang Technological University (NTU) laboured to a 41-32 victory over their arch-rivals National University of Singapore (NUS) in the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Netball Championship.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) lit up the courts with a resounding 45-33 win over Singapore Management University (SMU).

In the evenly matched contest earlier on, NTU had to survive a second and third quarter scare by NUS. However, the defending champions managed to impose their authority on the court with their better stamina in the last quarter to pip their rivals for the win.

“NUS were our main rivals in this tournament, as the players from both sides were very familiar with each others’ play, having played against each other in (club) teams prior to this match,” noted Coach Goh from NTU.

“In the end, it boiled down to who was more hungry to win. Having only led in the first and last quarter, we were quite happy with the ending, and we expect to meet them in the final,” he added.

When asked if the team performed to expectations, he replied, “Yes, in general we have shown it in the movement and play, although it could have been better, but we’ll improve on it in the matches to come.”

“During the game, we had planned to mark a few players and (our plan) worked, and so the opponents link up play wasn’t as smooth as what they had expected. Our overall play was okay, just that we could have had a better flow,” he added, on the tactical play of his team.

Even with a team that did not get a chance to gel, NUS had a tremendous game, performing well despite having players recently returning from overseas attachments.

“Our plan was to just go all out, since our players recently got back from foreign exchange programmes and stuff, and so we didn’t get to train together for the majority of the training sessions,” noted Coach Lily of NUS, who had under-21 players in her team as well.

“Even during training last night, we didn’t get to train as a full team, and so today we just played them together with a ‘one for all, all for one’ mentality and hoped for the best,” she added.

“We have no idea how the poly teams play, but we’ll be watching the next few games to assess their strengths,” said the NUS coach, commenting on her future opponents.

In the last match of the day, SMU were unable to sustain the pressure on SIM as they succumbed to a 33-45 loss despite their good attacking play in the second and third quarter.

SIM, on the other hand, had a slow start but still managed to come out tops, posting a strong finish to win the game.

“In the beginning we started off quite okay, but we got better and better towards the last quarter,” noted SIM captain Lau Xiang Li.

“We’ve not really played against them before, but they have a mixture of relatively good players, so it was a good challenge for us,” she added.

NUS Line up
Yang Kai Hui,Chang Ziying, Charlene Nah, Dharshita, Carmen Goh, Ong Minhui, Daphne Sim, Judith Sim, Lydia Soo, Rachel Leong, Chua Hui Zhen, Soh Min, Christina Koh, Louisa Lim

NTU Line up
Anna Soo, Brenda Xie, Celeste Lee, Shannon Chia, Chua Yini, Liew Siqi, Lim Yu Jing, Low Li Yun, Luo Yuzheng, Sarah Soo, Tan Anni, Rachel Tan, Tessa Tan, Toh Wan Ling

SMU Line up
Chan Hui Mui, Suhailah Binte Kariman, Lim Yan Ping Melissa, Tan Xue Mei Charlene, Ang Ziqin, Stacy Rae Minjoot, Huan Sze Lynn Krystle, Fatimah Bte Yasin, Sie Siu Ming Sylviane, Shaddick Edwina Hui May, Charlotte Ng Kai Wen

SIM Line up
Lau Xiang Li, Nursyazwana, Tan Li Qi, Khoo Xue Ning, Goh Pei Yun, Wenna Lee, Zeng Qin Yun, Ong Pei Shi, Wee Li Ting, Cheryl Jeanne Chiew, Sharon Wong, Charmaine Soh, Jasmine Yeo, Cassandra Soh

Ed’s note: If you know the players featured in the photos, please let us know their names in the comments section and we’ll update the captions.