Asian Schools Volleyball: Singapore set to face Iran, Hong Kong and Macau in preliminary rounds

By Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports in Da Nang, Vietnam

Da Nang, Sunday, August 21, 2011 — Singapore is set to face Iran, Hong Kong and Macau in the preliminary rounds of the Asian Schools Girls’ Volleyball Championship. The four nations form Group B, while Group A consists of China, Malaysia, Thailand and hosts Vietnam.

Head coach Mr William Chua commented, “I think from the draw itself, we have a good chance of progressing into the semi-finals. There is a higher chance [for us] as compared to the other group. For the team, certainly there will be a standard there. But I cannot expect too much, I cannot expect them to play like a champion team. What is important is that they play to their best. So long as everybody can play up to their own standard, I will be very satisfied.”

Chef de Mission Mr Lim Yan Hock echoed Mr Chua’s view on the team’s chances in progressing to the next round.

“We want them to do their best, show sportsmanship and achieve a top four finish by entering the semi-finals. Based on what we see now, we think that getting a third-place finish should be something we can aspire to,” said the principal of Presbyterian High.

He continued, “All these trainings have helped the team to build skills, especially when they play against the best [teams] and knowing what is the best out there. But for teams like Thailand, this is not their first team and yet they are already so good. So by knowing the benchmark, hopefully our players can encourage their teammates when they return to school.”

Mr Lim also singled out libero Hong Jiayi as a player who had benefited from such experiences. “For Jiayi, she has come [for competitions like this] before. Back then she was so new, but now she has gained confidence, be it interacting with other teams or officials. So it’s not just about developing [technical] skills but also about other things, like the way we interact with others. This is a skill we want our youngsters to have.”

With height being an important factor for the team, several centre spikers have been drafted to fill in the ranks. Lim Qianwen, a JC2 centre spiker from Nanyang Junior College, has found herself playing in a new position as a subset/opposite spiker.

“During training, I have been putting in extra work and paying attention to what I should do. But back in Nanyang JC, I’ve played in the subset position before so I roughly know what’s going on,” she shared. “I feel that I am adapting well and I am liking this position because I can do many different things!”

With the team having been formed not too long ago, building team dynamics would certainly be very crucial. However, the team have run into an early stumbling block as Qianwen appeared to have suffered an injury, having to sit out part of the team’s training over here at the Tien Son Sport Complex. 

But the injury does not seem to be of a serious concern, as Qianwen revealed that it was just an old ailment acting up. She said, “It’s not really an injury. I think it’s more about [the muscles] tensing up. But I have carried on since a long time. Now I am okay for the competition.”

The team will play their first match against Iran on Monday, August 22 at 9pm (10pm Singapore time).

Watch snippets of the Singapore team’s training session.