By Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 — 16 teams started the National B Division Netball Championship and after the first round games, it is down to eight. The South Zone showed their quality with three representatives — CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh), Raffles Girls’ School and Cedar Girls’ Secondary.

Two East Zone schools (Dunman; Greenview), two West Zone schools (Nanyang Girls’ High; Nan Hua High) and one North Zone school (Singapore Sports School) make up the rest of the second round qualifiers.

In Group A, Cedar Girls’ had an easy time in most of their matches except against River Valley when their key shooter Amelia Tan was not present. Cedar Girls’ had a comfortable lead in the first half but River Valley played a better game play in the second half. However, the deficit was too large for River Valley and Cedar Girls’ eventually wrapped up the game 19-18.

Cedar Girls’ beat Dunman Secondary and CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ 30-17 and 41-7 respectively in the other matches to top the table. In a crucial match, East Zone runners-up Dunman beat West Zone champions River Valley 36-27 to finish second and take their place in the second round.

Group B, the toughest group of all, saw the underdogs Nan Hua High put up an outstanding performance. Nan Hua High gave last year’s national runners-up Singapore Sports School (SSP) a scare. However, luck was not on Nan Hua’s side and SSP eventually won the match 27-26. SSP also cruised past Ang Mo Kio Secondary 31-22 and beat Anglican High 35-13 to finish first in the group.

In the fight for second place, favourites Ang Mo Kio were neck-and-neck with Nan Hua for the first half of the match. Nan Hua, who had a slightly better game play in the third quarter, took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter and surged ahead to wrap up the game 40-27 to take up a spot in the second round.

In Group C, Nanyang Girls’ High, who did not have a good performance in their zonal tournament, showed what they were worth in the nationals. They knocked out St. Hilda’s (41-16) and Anderson Secondary (23-17), and they gave South Zone champions Raffles Girls’ School a tough fight. However, Raffles proved stronger to take the match 35-32 to finish first in their group.

Raffles also beat St Hilda’s and Anderson 36-18 and 41-24 respectively and Nanyang also qualified along with them for the second round.

In Group D, East Zone champions Greenview Secondary vied with South Zone runners-up CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) to finish top of the table. Both teams overcame their other group opponents, Clementi Town Secondary and North Vista Secondary, without much difficulty.

Greenview swept away Clementi Town (36-20) and North Vista (41-22) while CHIJ (TP) cruised past Clementi Town (42-14) and North Vista (45-19).

In the much-awaited match between Greenview and CHIJ (TP), both teams finished 29 apiece after an intense 40 minutes. However, CHIJ (TP) topped the table due to a better goal difference.

In the seond round, Group X is made up of Singapore Sports School, Cedar Girls’, Greenview and Nanyang Girls’ while CHIJ (Toa Payoh), Raffles Girls’, Nan Hua High and Dunman will play in Group Y.

National B Division Netball Championship — Full fixtures and results